


Cancelling The Apocalypse

by woooyifan



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Agoraphobia, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Pacific Rim Fusion, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Anxiety, Drift Bond (Pacific Rim), Drift Compatibility (Pacific Rim), Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Enemies to Lovers, Enemies to soulmates, Jaegers (Pacific Rim), Kaiju (Pacific Rim), M/M, Mental Health Issues, Minor Character Death, Multi, Platonic Soulmates, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, References to Depression, Romantic Soulmates, Slow Burn, Soul Bond, Soulmates, The Drift (Pacific Rim), Therapy, Trauma, germaphobia
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-04
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-17 06:14:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 20,422
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29837274
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/woooyifan/pseuds/woooyifan
Summary: Miya Atsumu hasn't been in a jaeger in five years.He still wakes up early as hell, goes to work on The Wall like every other sorry bastard that needs some money, picks up Osamu's medicine on the way home, puts on an apron and helps his twin brother manage his little onigiri shop.He wouldn't dare say it, but he misses it, fighting monsters, feeling *useful*. But that's unfair, and if this is how he feels, he can't imagine what its like for Osamu.Sakusa Kiyoomi has never wanted to step foot in a jaeger. He's perfectly fine doing his part from a support role, even though the whole world expected him to put on a jumpsuit and jump right into the action.  He can barely stand breathing the same air as most people, he's not sharing his brain with them.Maybe Kiyoomi feels a little guilty, training cadets and shouting instructions from behind his desk while his students put their lives on the line. But its not like he can just suit up and rush into battle.There's a reason he never set foot in a jaeger, and its not *only* his germaphobia standing in his way.
Relationships: Akaashi Keiji/Bokuto Koutarou, Daishou Suguru/Kuroo Tetsurou, Iwaizumi Hajime/Oikawa Tooru, Miya Atsumu/Sakusa Kiyoomi, Tendou Satori/Ushijima Wakatoshi
Comments: 3
Kudos: 28





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> hi! im a big fan of pac rim and the drift compatibility thing basically insinuating people are soulmates so here's this monstrosity, fairly losely based on the first pacific rim movie

"C'mon 'Samu, let's rock and roll."

Osamu rolls his eyes, shrugging off his aviator jacket and wiggling into his jumpsuit.

"Ya needta stop eatin' so damn much 'Tsumu, your suit's lookin' mighty tight."

"Are ya callin' me fat, 'Samu?"

Atsumu is seconds from hitting his twin brother upside the head when Suna Rintarou walks into the locker room. He lookes bored, glaring at the twin pilots over hi clipboard.

"Would you two quit fighting each other and get suited up do you can do your actual job, fighting _kaiju_." Suna deadpans, eyeing both twins.

"S'not my fault 'Samu's such an ass, _I_ was tryin' ta hurry him up."

"Oh would ya fucking shove it-"

"Would both of you stop and get down to the damn hangar?"

That was Aran over the intercom, and both twins saluted the mechanic (even though he couldn't see them) before putting their little tiff away for later. They'd have plenty of time to rag on each other after they came back.

Suna briefs them on the mission in the elevator on the way down. Atsumu knows the specifications of the kaiju now, but at the time, he'd paid almost no attention to the details Suna was giving. He knew the thing was smaller than most, and moving quickly towards Kobe. Hyogo prefecture didn't have a giant jaeger project, just the Miya twins and their crew protecting the areas to far south for the Tokyo Shatterdome to be able to reach quickly.

Not long after the accident Inarizaki Shatterdome was shut down, new sensors closer to the gap and an expansion of the Tokyo Shatterdome's pilot force meant that smaller, separate organizations were no longer needed.

It had been like any other drop. Suna handed them off to Aran who explained any changes or problems he hadn't got around to fixing yet. Their jaeger, Obsidian Kitsune, had been a right beauty. Sleek black, nearly impossible to see in the dead of night, and Aran and his team of engineers kept her running at top capacity, even when the Miyas brought her back missing all kinds of parts.

Aran had left to the control tower, and once their were suited up and the neural handshake was established, Kita would ring in on the comms. There was a quick quasi-prayer, none of that 'Our Father' super traditional mess, just asking whatever spirits or gods or whatever was out there to keep them all from harm. Then the hangar opened, and they were on their way.

It went to shit from there.

The kaiju had cut Kitsune loose from her heli-transport before they even reached drop. Which meant that the bastard was moving even faster than they anticipated. About 200 knots, the analysts said after. As perfect as their jaeger was, she was no match for the sheer speed. Analysts had said that a less seasoned pair of pilots would have died. That they were lucky. It sure didn't feel that way to Atsumu.

Atsumu sure didn't feel lucky when the monster's cleaver-like tail split their precious jaeger down the middle. It was a searing pain, feeling like the tail had cleaved his head instead, having Osamu's consciousness ripped away from him like that.

It was so fucking cold, the echoing emptiness in his head where Osamu should have been.

Atsumu had been with Osamu literally his whole life. There hadn't been a moment they'd been apart for longer than a week. Even back when they were cadets when they'd been purposefully separated, he still new Osamu was _there_ , he was _ok_.

But now he had no idea, could only see Osamu's side of Kitsune dripping kaiju blue as it ate through the outer shell of their jaeger. That an the occasional flickering of Osamu's consciousness back into his, the drift matrix not yet completely destroyed.

Osamu was struggling to stay awake, and Atsumu could barely focus, but they still had a job to do. This monster couldn't reach land. They wouldn't allow it.

"'Samu! You'd better not fuckin faint on me! Do ya hear me?"

"Will ya shut yer trap!"

Through a combined struggle whenever the drift matrix was in sync, they managed to hold the monster back until reinforcements arrived from Tokyo. The fucking gremiln ruined two more jaegers before it was finally brought down.

"Aran's gonna be real mad about this one, huh?" Atsumu mused to Osamu with a laugh.

It was over, and they were okay, even if Kitsune might really be down for the count.

"'Tsumu..."

Atsumu felt the drift matrix engage again, finally able to turn his head and see the giant spike protruding from Osamu's leg. His suit was too black, so Atsumu had no idea how much blood he'd lost.

And he felt it, when Osamu died.

"'Samu? 'Samu! Osamu Miya, you fucking bastard-"

"'Tsumu. Wake up. You were dreamin' again."

Atsumu sits up, still panting and feeling clammy. It's been five years but he still has nightmares about that drop.

Osamu had died that day, three times in fact, and even though they'd only been in the drift during one of them, Atsumu swears he felt it every time.

Of course Osamu was alive and well now, ('S gonna take a lot more than a pipsqueak like that to do me in, 'Tsumu are ya fucking crying? Good lord.) except that spike did some major nerve damage to his legs so walking is still a struggle, and the kaiju blue had given him some strange form of radiation poisoning Atsumu still didn't understand. But Osamu hadn't developed cancer or spontaneously grown a tail or lost all his hair, so he supposed the outrageously expensive cocktail of drugs he took everyday helped.

"Fuck, sorry 'Samu."

"I keep telling ya to go see a fuckin therapist. Yer messed up 'Tsumu. 'S'been five years n I don't even dream about in anymore, n I'm the one that fuckin died."

Atsumu rolled his eyes, ignoring the imploring gaze of his brother. He rolled out of bed and started getting ready for work since he was already awake. Who knew what time it was, and Atsumu didn't care to look at the clock and see how little sleep he'd gotten again.

"For what? We already know m'fucked, what's a shrink gonna tell me I don't already know? 'Sides, its too damn expensive n I ain't got the time." Atsumu brushes him off.

Atsumu knew Osamu was only nagging him like an old lady because he cared but, how do you explain feeling your brother die? He wasn't sure there was anything that would fix that kind of trauma.

Osamu rolls his eyes and wheels after Atsumu, following him into their tiny kitchen/living area. They had made good money as pilots, but their saving quickly ran out. They couldn't afford anything too fancy or with more than four rooms, but the barracks at cadet academy had been much smaller. They could manage.

"For tha thousandth time its free, and ya know they tell ya how ta deal with yer fucking problems, right? Crying yerself o the bottom of a bottle of jack every other week ain't healthy 'Tsumu. I know-" Osamu breathed.

"I know yer tryin yer best and stuff, but ya can't just focus on taking care of me all the time 'Tsumu. I can take care of myself, and you need ta start taking care of yourself again too."

Osamu had a point. Atsumu knew Osamu had a point.

"Fuck ya fer thinking yer so damn wise." Atsumu throws a dish towel at Osamu, which he easily dodges.

"I don't think I'm some wise old coot, I just actaully went ta therapy ya, piss haired bastard."

"Fine fine, I'll look into tha counseling thing or whatever. Stop calling me piss hair, just 'cause you look 200 years old with that grey mop-"

This time it's Osamu that throws the towel.

"Its silver ya fucking bitch! Get outta here before yer late again!"

"Alright, gramps."

Osamu is still cursimg at him when he closes the door to their apartment.

Atumsu walks three blocks to the subway station, and changes four trains before he's at his worksite. Currently, he's part of the enourmous welding team working on The Wall, the supposed global solution to the kaiju problem.

Jaegers are expensive, and don't always win the fight. Not that the wall does shit to keep them out, and Atsumu knows this. He watched a Category 2 tear through the wall in Sydney like it was papier-mache. But the PPDC paid his wages on time and they didn't give a shit if Atsumu showed up smelling like alcohol and looking like death. As long as he didn't fall off the scaffolding and die and they didn't give a shit. Atsumu welded all day, taking a brief break for lunch, looking out over the city while he ate his bento. Being this high up gave him a bit of relief from the smothering of his own mind. Being so far from the world, he could feel this vice around his chest loosening. He could breathe.

And then the moment would pass, he'd put his helmet on and get back to work. When the sun started to set, he'd pack up his gear, descend the concrete and iron monstrosity and collect his pay for the day. Then he'd sprint across the district to the only pharmacy within a five mile radius that carried Osamu's medications before it closed, and he'd head back home. He'd wash off, get changed, and then walk two blocks down the street to throw on an apron and help Osamu out with the dinner rush at the hole in the wall onigiri shop he bought from and old grandma. A few hours later they'd close up and head back home and Atsumu would fitfully fall asleep and repeat the cycle the next day. Endlessly.

However, today was a little different. When he got to Onigiri Miya, Osamu chased him out of the kitchen saying Kita was waiting for him.

"Fuck is Kita doin here? 'Samu!" Atsumu protested, but Osamu had already slammed the kitchen door in his face.

Rude ass.

"Kita? What brings you around?"

Most of the staff from the Inarizaki Shatterdome had moved to Tokyo after its closure, except for a few, including Kita. Hyogo prefecture was his home, and he wouldn't leave it behind for anything.

As Atsumu approached his former commander, he realized there was already someone else sitting at the table. A huge man, dressed in all black, but Atsumu recognized the pin on the lapel of his coat. Pan-Pacific Defense Corps. What was one of their agents doing sniffing around Hyogo again?

"Atsumu, this is Commander Meian. He called me asking for a favor, so I'm here to introduce you."

Atsumu leaned to his left side, neglecting to take a seat. He didn't have a great relationship with the PPDC anymore, and he'd never trusted anyone from Tokyo Shatterdome. They were all a bunch of high and mighty city boys.

"Yeah, what kind of favor?"

Meian sighed, looking uncomfortable. Atsumu barely reigned in a laugh. It was amusing to see such a big guy look ruffled under the feathers.

"I'm sure you've heard that the PPDC is shutting down the jaeger program to focus on the wall. Which I'm also sure you know is basically useless. We've got one last chance to prove our worth before the council at the UN pulls the plug, so I'm trying to get every, pilot, mechanic, and scientist I can up to Tokyo Shatterdome. Kita said its possible you would be interested in returning."

Atsumu's eyes widened. The PPDC had sent some guys down to try and convince Atsumu to rejoin and find a new partner after the accident, but he'd refused. Osamu had still barely been able to sit up at the time, sick as a dog, and doctors weren't sure if he'd keep his leg, let alone be able to walk. Atsumu couldn't just abandon him, move halfway across the country to get back in a jaeger.

What if he got hurt, or died? He couldn't bear being away from Osamu not like this, not at a time like this. But above all else, Atsumu couldn't imagine getting into someone else's head like that again.

"Kita, I know ya mean well, but there ain't no way in hell I'm getting back in a fucking jaeger. Even if I fucking wanted to, 'Samu's stuck in a fucking wheelchair, so I haven't got a co-pilot." Atsumu is fuming, but trying to keep it civil, for Kita's sake, and also the other patrons in the restaurant.

"I'm very sorry for what happened to your brother but-" Meian starts.

"Aw, keep yer fucking condolensces to yer self. You an I both know ya don't give a flyin fuck bout me or 'Samu. Or anyone over here in Hyogo. If ya did, ya wouldn't have shut us down while me an my brother were still in the damn hospital. You can take Tokyo Shatterdome and shove it. Yer perfectly welcome to order something before ya get the fuck outta our shop though, and ya better leave a fat ass tip too." Atsumu ranted.

"Kita." He bobbed his head in respect and turned on his heel and stalked away from the table. His blood was boiling, and he was fucking pissed. How dare they come back here and ask him that shit?

He shoved open the door to kitchen and sighed.

"'Tsumu-"

"Don't. Dont say anything. Ya knew what they were gonna ask didn't ya?"

"Atsumu."

Oh, full name. That meant serious business.

"I know yer worried about me. But ya can't keep living like this. You and I both know ya miss being in a jaeger like crazy. It was all ya talked about when we were kids. Its okay to go. Ya don't have to stay here and be responsible for me for the rest of yer life." Osamu says.

Atsumu sighs. He knows that. Osamu would be fine if he skipped town and started piloting again. He wouldn't be upset, and he would get on just fine without him. That wasn't the issue. Osamu had always been the idependent one after all.

Atsumu sighed again, leaning against the counter, bending over to rest his forhead against the cool faux wood.

And that's when the Kaiju Alert System siren went off. The anger bled out of him in seconds, replaced by fear and worry.

"Fuck." Atsumu breathed.

The shop wasn't too far from a Kaiju emergency shelter, but it would still be two hours at least before the nearest jaeger team made it out. And there was no guarantee the kaiju wouldn't have already made landfall. And even if it hadn't, there was no knowing if the team would actually be able to defend the coastline.

It wouldn't have taken Osamu and Atsumu longer than 15 minutes, and even then, even five years ago clinging to life and barely in sync, they hadn't let the line fall. Atsumu thought about this instead of sleeping, curled up next to Osamu's wheelchair to make sure it didn't get stolen, sitting in heavy silence waiting for any news as to how things were going on the surface. And this bitter, sour feeling crept up the back of Atsumu's neck, choking him out. He couldn't quite name it, but it tasted almost like regret.

Eight hours later, when he and Osamu were finally leaving the emergency shelter, he called Kita.

"That Meian guy leave a card or something?"


	2. Chapter 2

Two weeks later finds Atsumu Miya sitting right across from Commander Meian on his way to Tokyo Shatterdome.

When he'd called Meian back, he'd apologized for chewing the man out in front of a full restaurant. If Meian was going to be his commanding officer, he'd have to throw away his judgement of Tokyo Shatterdome and PPDC personnel. It wouldn't serve him any good to come into a situation like this already expecting the worst. There would be plenty of staff from all over Japan, all over the world even. And seeing the way the Commander had essential groveled his way to Hyogo in person to ask for Atsumu to come back, he was sure they'd learned some humility over the past few years.

Mein explained the situation on the way over. Essentially, they had more jaegers than pilots currently, considering cadet training had been halted the year prior. With no new recruits and a bunch of arguably ancient jaegers, they'd been forced to start digging veteran pilots out of retirement. As long as they weren't ten years out or crippled, Mein was paying them all a visit to plead with them to rejoin. He wasn't getting a lot of positive responses, but he was thankful to Atsumu for giving it a chance.

"So, Miya-"

"Oh, God, call me Atsumu. No one's ever called me Miya, s'weird."

"Alright, Atsumu. You can rest today, get settled in, give you about a month to get back in shape, then we'll talk about finding you a new copilot."

Atsumu tensed at the thought. It still wasn't something he was quite comfortable with, but he could do it. Relearning a person from the inside out was daunting, but Atsumu had faced worse before.

"Well, baby steps. Let's see if I don't have a mental break at the sight of a drift matrix, first."

"Speaking of that, mental counseling is available at the Shatterdome, if you'd like to take advantage of it. You're gonna be going through a hell of a lot in a short period of time. And I'm sorry, but we don't have time to have you break down and catch up all over again."

"I'll do my best, Commander."

Remember like, five minutes ago when Atsumu was trying to over a new leaf about people from Tokyo and all that jazz? Yeah, that went out the window with in 30 seconds of Atsumu arriving at the Shatterdome.

He and Meian step off the helicopter amidst an annoyingly light rainstorm, not quite a drizzle, but heavy enough to need an umbrella. There's a small grouping of black umbrellas waiting on the helipad when they land, people waiting to barrage the commander with questions the second he arrives.

"Sorry, I'm a little overwhelmed right now, but I'll leave you in capable hands to show your around and get settled.

They cross the open space and the umbrella taking point lifts slightly. The person holding it is also dressed in all black, and is standing a few steps away from the rest of the group. The person lifts their head fully, umbrella tilting back over their shoulder and Atsumu freezes.

Commander Mein keeps walking, but stays a few steps away from the other man, effectively bridging the distance between Atsumu and the other man. Obsidian black curly hair, dark eyes, a white face mask covering the lower half of his face, which Atsumu can still tell is pinched into an uncomfortable scowl. Two black moles stacked right on top of each other above his left eyebrow.

"Atsumu this is-"

"Sakusa Kiyoomi, never thought I'd have to see yer sorry face again." Atsumu all but growls.

Sakusa Kiyoomi had been top of his class when he was a cadet. His parents were pilots, his older siblings and cousins were pilots, and he was going to be a pilot too.

He was an excellent fighter, intelligent, and while a bit cold, he was still likeable. He already had a few drift compatible partners, the strongest match being his cousin, Motoya Komori. They were kind of what the trainers liked to call 'sun and moon' matches. Not exactly opposites per say, but Komori definitely had a brighter personality than Kiyoomi. Familial ties almost always heralded strong, and lasting drift compatibility.

After graduation, Kiyoomi and Komori already had a jaeger waiting for them at the Tokyo Shatterdome. Everything was going perfectly, just as it should.

Until suddenly it wasn't.

They hadn't been doing anything dangerous, simply out with their class after the last night of exams, celebrating and letting loose. Most of the bars were crowded that night, losts of schools having had their final exams the day before. Students just barely drinking age were all over the place chasing down the laast few drops of youth before they had to make career decisions over the next few weeks. Kiyoomi and Komori had no such qualms, their professional careers already set out before them.

They had been crossing the street, going from one bar to the next. The cross walk changed, and Komori stepped off the curb. Kiyoomi had been right behind him.

A car ran the red light through the intersection. Suddenly, Komori was not directly in front of Kiyoomi, smiling brightly, but lying mangled in the intersection a few yards away. Traffic stopped, but the car kept driving off into the night. Kiyoomi doesn't remember running into the street, most of his classmates and some passerbyers moving with him. A few people called for an ambulance. Kiyoomi doesn't hear the sirens, or see the lights hen the EMTs arrive, but it was too late already.

He remembers the awful wheezing noise as Komori drowned in his own blood, the opressive press of the crowd that formed around him, EMTs dragging him away from Komori's body even as he sobbed and heaved. He remembers throwing up in the street, the mix of alcohol and stress overloading his system. He remembers tryning to scrub Komori's blood off of his hands hours later, sticky and caked and making his skin itch.

Sometimes he still feels that oppressive inability to breathe, the urge to scrub at his skin until he bleeds.

He's traumatized, too messed up to even be viable as a pilot. He still remembers when he finally came back to the academy, the PPDC holding his spot and trying to find him a new copilot. They had hooked him up to a drift matrix to one of his other potential matches. A classmate he'd known for the past three years, but he was so mentally unstable, so anxious, that they couldn't get the nerual handshake to initiate. He got lost in his own thoughts, 'chasing the rabbit' they called it. In reality, he was receeding into his own mind, disgusted at the thought of letting anyone close enough to see how truly shaken he is.

Sakusa Kiyoomi would never be a jaeger pilot, and instead spends the next ten years as an instructor at the academy, training cadets, and as a PPDC agent.

Atsumu Miya remembers him perfectly, the constrast between his white mask and pale skin and his dark hair and eyes. They reminded him of Obsidian Kitsune. They still do.

He remembers sitting in a hospital conference room while Sakusa and two other PPDC agents delivered the news that the Inarizaki Shatterdome was going to be shut down. Atsumu was still being treated at the time, shoulder tied up in a sling, and Osamu was still essentally fighting for his life in a medically induced coma.

The whole time, Sakusa seemed to glare straight through him. He refused to shake hands when they met, and kept a minimum distance from everyone around him.

 _Fucking city boy..._ Atsumu had thought back then, offended by his stand-offishness.

It only got worse when Sakusa stood to give Atsumu Osamu's severance pay and ask when he would be able to relocate to Tokyo in order to get reassigned.

Atsumu had been rightly enraged, and while he ranted and raved, Sakusa stood there calmly.

Sakusa hadn't been any colder than normal, but he couldn't deny that he was jealous. Atsumu Miya got the life he didn't, and his brother was still alive. Komori was dead, he'd never be a pilot, just a PPDC lapdog for his whole life, in an effort to live up to the expectations he had failed, in an effort to make the pitying looks from his friends and family stop.

"You spit when you talk. It's disgusting." Sakusa said cooly, when Atsumu was done with his tirade.

"You fucking elitist piece of shit-"

"Personally, I don't think Tokyo Shatterdome needs someone like you. If you're just going to waste our time, don't contact us again. We don't need some beat up hick who's going to have a breakdown the second he sees a drift matrix."

Sakusa _knows_ he shouldn't say it, he knows it hypocritical as fuck. It's more like he's saying the words for himself, what he wishes his captains would have told him after his first breakdown.

_Just go home. We don't need you._

Sakusa doesn't reply immediately, eyeing Atsumu's offered hand like it's a used tissue.

"Miya Atsumu, welcome to Tokyo Shatterdome."

Meian chooses to be oblivious to the obvious tension between the two men, slapping Atsumu on the back with a chuckle.

"Oh good, you've met! Sakusa, I'll leave you with him, please, don't bite his head off. And Atsumu, try not to be too hard on Sakusa, he's just a little picky is all." Meian says, quickly shuffling off to the the gaggle of people vying for his attention.

Both men snort at Meian's choice of words. _Picky sure is a nice way of putting it._

"Keep up, Miya." Sakusa says, turning on his heel and striding quickly in the direction of the hangar doors.

"Oi, slow down! And call me Atsumu, damnit!"

Sakusa stops on a dime, and Atsumu, who had been jogging to catch up with him, nearly crashes into his back. Sakusa easily side steps him and Atsumu nearly slips and falls on the wet tarmac. There's a vein in Sakusa's forehead that's throbbing as he looks down his mask covered nose at Atsumu.

"No." he says and starts walking again.

"No? What are ya talkin bout? Slown down, damn you." 


	3. Chapter 3

When Sakusa and Atsumu reach the elevator, two other men barrel their way into carraiage before the doors slide closed. Sakusa carefully steps away to the back left corner of the elevator, watching distastefully as Atsumu shakes the rain droplets from his hair like a golden retriever.

"What are you, a wet dog?" Sakusa gripes and berates himself.

 _Be nice, show him around, and then get the hell out of here._ He thinks to himself.

"Ooh, fresh meat?" One of the other men turns to face Atsumu and Sakusa. He's tall, with brick red hair buzzed close to his scalp. His eyes are a similar shade of red, and he looks at Atsumu like his mind calculating every detail about him in one look. Atsumu shivers, but he chalks it up to the cold and rain.

"Tendou Satori, head kaijui specialist. And who might you be?" The man introduces, and when he holds out a hand for Atsumu to shake he sees its covered in tattoos of kaiju.

"Atsumu Miya, jaeger pilot." he offers taking the hand.

Tendou smiles, lips curling almost like a Cheshire cat, leering at Sakusa. "Another big strong soldier boy huh? Well, I'm sure you'll feel right at home here. Sakusa is so gloomy ya'know? But don't worry its not just you, hes like that to everyone, isn't that right?" Tendou has the gall to throw an arm over Sakusa's shoulders.

Sakusa is starting to look like he'd rather be anywhere than here.

"Tendou, get off of me-"

"Aw, come on Sakusa, I'm clean I swear! I haven't even been down to the lab yet today! Pinky promise!" Tendou pounts, holding his pinky finger out towards Sakusa.

Sakusa's eyes roamed back to the other man who looked entertained by the image in front of him.

"He's teling the truth, he hasn't come in contact with any gross old kaiju parts today. Yet." He says, snickering. Sakusa visibly relaxes, but still plucks Tendou's arm from across his shoulders.

"I'm Kuroo Tetsuro, kaiju anomaly specialist." the other man introduces himself to Atsumu. His hair is all over his head in an almost rooster-like fashion. It takes every ounce of Atsumu's remaining self control not to snort at the hairstyle.

Tendou is still bothering Sakusa when they get off the elevator, the latter trying to keep the red head at an acceptable distance with little to no effect.

"I hope you stick around, Miya, we could use some fresh ideas on the team." Kuroo says, stopping by the lab doors as they pass by.

"Satori. Please leave Sakusa alone." This is a new voice.

The large man coming around the corner is obviously another pilot. He's tall, they all are of course, but this man is _huge_ and roughly as wide as a barn. Atsumu's suddenly very lucky not to have gone to academy with this man, who looks like he could break him like a twig.

"I'm just teasing him Ushiwaka." Tendou pouts and the man, 'Ushiwaka' frowns.

"You know that he does not appreciate being touched. Please stop."

Tendou pouts but slinks off of Sakusa and attaches himself to Ushiwaka instead.

"Meian brought home another stray puppy." Kuroo says, jabbing a thumb at Atsumu which, _ouch_.

"Hello, I'm Ushijima Wakatoshi, captain for the Royal Eagle. It is nice to meet you."

Atsumu's eyes widened dramatically. He hadn't been following jaeger crews as closely as he had when he was still a pilot, but Ushijima Wakatoshi was a bit of a monster. He held the third highest score in Japan for the pilot aptitude test and while he'd cycled through a few partners, he had stuck with Royal Eagle since his debut.

"Pleasure's all mine, Atsumu Miya, but please, call me Atsumu."

"I would like to talk more, but I have questions for Satori." Ushijima said, gesturing towards the lab door.

"Bye, Atsumu, Sakusa! See ya later!" Tendou called.

"Sakusa." Ushijima said.

"Ushijima." Sakusa bobbed his head in recognition, and kept walking.

Even as they rounded the corner Atsumu could hear yelling from inside the lab.

"Oi, Kenma, get from under my desk and go do you job!"

"They're a rowdy bunch, huh?" Atsumu mutters and Sakusa snorts.

"Scientists are always eccentric. I take it you didn't have a science team at Inarizaki?"

"Nah, we got all our predictions sent in from Tokyo."

Sakusa just hummed, the only acknowledgment that he'd even heard Atsumu. Well, this was better than hurling insults at each other, which is halfway what Atsumu had expected. Guess fiev years can change a guy.

"This is the main hangar, we have eight functional jaeger with full crews. You just met both pilots for the Royal Eagle." Sakusa explained.

"Wait, both?"

Sakusa looked at Atsumu like he was stupid. He _did_ think Atsumu was stupid.

"Ushijima and Tendou."

"He's a scientist AND a pilot?"

"Yes, you're brain isn't going to explode or something is it? I'd like to get out the blast radius."

"Oi, was that a joke or an insult?"

Sakusa didn't answer and kept walking. Atsumu nearly had to job to keep up. Where did Sakusa think he was going with those long ass legs?

"This is the Winged Harbinger, her pilots are-"

"Kiyoomi!"

They was a grey and blue blur streaking across the hangar, which barreled into Sakusa. Sakusa looked tired, but not nearly as uncomfortable as earlier.

"Bokuto-san, you can't just tackle people."

The grey blur, Bokuto straightened Sakusa up and backed off fo the dark haired man.

"But he never comes down here to hang out with us!"

"This is why." Sakusa huffs, brushing his clothes off.

"Hey! New guy, what's up?", Bokuto's focus turns to Atsumu and his first impression is that Bokuto is very intense.

"Name's Atsumu Miya, how's it going?" Atsumu can't explain how comfortable he feels after just meeting Bokuto, but they kind of click.

Of course, he's heard about Bokuto too, and his co-pilot Akaashi. They were a dynamic duo with an amazing kill streak. And they were immensely popular with pilot groupies, fans swooning over the almost caretaker like relationship between the two pilots.

"Nice to meet you Atsumu. Bokuto-san we have a meeting." Akaashi reminds Bokuto.

"Oh yeah, see ya around!" and then he's zooming off with Akaashi on his heels like the owner of a very excited puppy.

Sakusa continued with the tour, introducing the Maneki Neko, a bright red and gold jaeger piloted by Kuroo and Kenma Kozume. Atsumu still didn't get how someone culd be both a pilot AND a scientist. He was sure if he tried studying both at the same time his head would have exploded. Sakusa was sure it would have.

Next was the Seijoh Rogue, a huge turquoise and white monstrosity with four arms. It had four pilots of course, all too invested in some squabble their were having, too busy to do introductions. Sakusa thought that was for the best. The last thing he needed was for Atsumu Miya and Tooru Oikawa to meet up and start harassing the entire Shatterdome.

Then there was the Iron Wall a truly ancient jaeger, analog and built like a mountain. Piloted by Aone Takanobu and Kenji Futakuchi. Aone didn't say a single word through their entire conversation, but Kenji still included him and seemed to be taking no verbal clues from the giant man. Atsumu just wanted to know where Aone's eyebrows went.

Finally, there was the Twilight Destroyer, all orange and black, and piloted by Shoyo Hinata and Kageyama Tobio. When Atsumu had been going through academy, Hinata and Kageyama were the rising stars to watch out for. Despite stories that the duo were outrageously competitive and constantly at each other's throats, they had one of the highest drift compatibilities on record. Other cadets that went to academy said the two could always move in perfect harmony, even when blindfolded. Atsumu saw it in action a bit, both of them climbing over each other to be the first to introduce themselves to the new pilot.

Sakusa resisted the urge to sigh again. Leave it to these two to always act like children in front of others.

"And here's your jaeger. Once we get you a co-pilot, of course. If you last that long."

Atsumu gazed up at the machine in utter awe. His mouth hung open, approaching the foot of the giant robot. Atsumu was a tall guy, but he wasn't even as high as the ankle joint on the jaeger.

"What's her name?" Atsumu wondered out loud, placing a hand on the solid black paint job. Well, not solid black. There were random highlights of gold throughout, catching the light.

It reminded his so much of Obsidian Kitsune, he thought he might _cry_. Then Sakusa would really he he was fucked up.

"Stygian Jackal. She's one of the last ones ever made, never been piloted before." Sakusa informed him.

"Well, I look forward to it."

"We'll see if you get to take her out for a spin."

"Here's you barracks. I'll be right across the hall. Instruction starts at 0500 tomorrow." Sakusa hands over a key without touching Atsumu's hand.

"Instruction?"

"You've been off a training regime and outside a jaeger for five years. Of course there's going to be some preliminary exercise involved. We can't just slap you in a jaeger and let you run amok." Sakusa explains, quirking a perfect eyebrow.

"I suppose that makes sense."

"Of course it does."

Sakusa crosses the hallway opening his door and stepping through before pausing.

"Atsumu..."

Atsumu looked up, surprised to hear Sakusa call him by his first name. He looked pained again, but Atsumu was starting to think that look wasn't anger, but more like stress, or nervousness.

"I'm sorry, for what I said at the hospital back then. I know this is five years too late, and you don't owe me forgiveness, but I was struggling with some of my own emotions back then, I shouldn't have taken it out on you. Having your brother in the hospital and PPDC shutting down Inarizaki when it did.... It was extremely insensitive of me."

"Don't worry about it, yeah Kiyoomi? Fresh slate."

Sakusa wrinkled his nose. Atsumu could see it, even under the mask.

"Don't call me by my first name. Goodnight, Miya." Sakusa stepped back and closed his door.

"Oi, didn't I say to call me by my first name? Ya just called me Atsumu half a minute ago!"

Atsumu sighed when there was no response from behind the closed door. He turned and went into his own room.

He set up a video call with Osamu while he set about unpacking his bags and getting settled.

"Oi, they ain't ship ya back ta Hyogo yet?"

Atsumu snorted, pulling out the aviator jacket he hasn't worn in years.

"Maybe tomorrow. You'll never guess who gave me a personal tour of the Dome." He goades.

"Who?"

"One a those PPDC asshats who came down while we were in the hospital to tell us they were shutting Inarizaki down."

"Aw fuck, 'Tsumu."

"Nah, it's cool he apologized. Guess we're chill now. What about you, ya missin me yet?"

"Not a chance. Can't believe ya video called me, can't even get one day without lookin at yer ugly mug."

"'Samu you asshole, we got the same fucking face!"

"And I wear it better. Oh, Kita called today, told me ta let ya know Aran and Suna are up there at the Shatterdome, say hi for me if ya run into them, will ya?"

"Suna and Aran? They really are digging us all up to come out here."

"Yeah. They show you yer jaeger?"

"Yeah they did. She's a beaut 'Samu, I'll have ta show you-"

"'S a damn robot 'Tsumu I know yer excited an all, but ya sound about ready ta sleep with the damn thing."

"Oh shut yer trap, 'Samu 's not like that an ya know it."

Atsumu hates that he can't hit his brother via video call.

".... she looks like Kitsune did."

"Oh."

Osamu goes silent for a minute, and Atsumu stops moving.

"I wish you were her with me ya, bastard."

"Oh hush, ya get all sappy on me and I'm gonna hang up."

"I'm serious Samu! Most of the other pilots here are used to piloting with different partners, save a few. I've never even drifted with anyone other than you, let alone piloted a fucking jaeger."

Osamu just shrugs.

"'S a leap of faith 'Tsumu. Even for us."

"Yeah. Yeah yer right."

"Course I'm right, I'm the smart one. Now tell me, they got anyone up there I'd recognize?"

"Fuck do they. That Meian guy's got every pilot worth his salt from our generation up here."

Talking with Osamu helps calm Atsumu down. Knowing his brother is okay, and will be okay without him is comforting if not a little scary. He supposes he'll be coming to terms with the fact that Osamu doesn't need him to helicopter around him.

 _Eh_ he thinks, as he lays down for bed, _that's a thought for a therapy session._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so now we've got our main cast and crew introduced and our trauma has been established, we can get down to business. and by we, i mostly mean atsumu, its time for his training arch


	4. Chapter 4

The next morning Atsumu woke up at 0345, in a cold sweat, panicking from his nightmares again.

Except Osamu wasn’t here to reassure him this time, so being awake didn’t spare him from his demons. He nearly hyperventilated right there in bed, tangled with his standard issue sheets, damp from his sweat.

The honey blonde managed to calm himself down enough to realize he wasn’t back in Hyogo, he wasn’t in the cockpit of Obsidian Kitsune. He was hundreds of miles away in Tokyo, five years in the future. Osamu was probably sleeping like a rock back in their shitty little apartment in Kobe. He thought about calling, just to make sure Osamu really was still okay, but the asshole would just give him shit for waking him up, if he even managed to. Atsumu feared a missed call would send him into another panic.

So he got up, took a deep breath, and grabbed some clothes before walking into a scalding shower to wash his sweat and fear away. He stood under the hot spray for longer than necessary, letting himself calm down and his heart rate stabilize before he got out.

Now his clock was reading 0415, so not enough time to go back to sleep if he had to report at 0500. So he decided to go for a run around the dome instead. He threw on a jacket and stepped out of his room, stretching in the corridor.

He was surprised to find Sakusa doing the same.

“Miya.” He greeted, simply.

“Hey, Sakusa! Yer goin fer a run too?”

“Yes.”

“Well then let’s go together, yeah?”

Sakusa looks pained, as if he’d literally rather do anything else.

“Okay, keep up, Miya.”

“Told ya to call me, ‘Tsumu!”

Sakusa just rolled his eyes and started down the hallway without him. Atsumu huffed in annoyance but followed.

Kiyoomi kept his distance from Atsumu while they did a singular lap around the compound, veering away or speeding up any time Atsumu got too close. Atsumu was lucky he’d been in some kind of a shape before he came down here, otherwise he’d have embarrassed himself trying to keep up with Sakusa.

He was holding back the urge to pant like a dog or collapse on the floor when they got back to the elevator, sure that Sakusa would think he was weak. He hadn’t even broken a sweat, wasn’t even breathing hard, even with the face mask on.

 _Fucking asshole_. Atsumu thought to himself.

“So, Breakfast?” Atsumu asked, but Kiyoomi turned and walked back towards his room, away from the mess hall.

“I don’t eat down there. Besides, I need to take a shower.” After a beat he added, “You should too.” and then Sakusa disappeared into his room.

Atsumu just shook his head and headed down to the mess hall.

Once inside his room, Kiyoomi took off his shoes, and sprayed disinfectant on them. He took off his mask and put it in the trashcan by the door. Then he sanitized his hands, phone, keys, light switch, and door knob. He walked over to his laundry basket and stripped off his sweaty (barely) clothes and put them in the hamper, and stepped into the shower. He stayed until the incessant itching under his skin stopped, then he got out and cleaned the shower. Next he washed his face, then applied lotion so his skin wouldn’t dry out from the multiple showers. He hung his wet towels up to dry so they wouldn’t mildew in the laundry hamper. He got dressed in clean clothes, and cleaned the rest of the bathroom. Then he poured himself a glass of water and dug a protein bar out of his pantry to eat.

Sure it wasn’t much and Meian was always berating Sakusa for not eating enough but cooking was too much of a hassle with all that clean up and well.... there was no way in hell he was going to eat in the mess hall. Too many people, sitting at a table that hadn’t been properly cleaned in God knows how long, talking and laughing and yelling, spraying spit on each other’s food that the cooking staff had already breathed onto, served on trays someone else had previously used, eating with untensils someone else had previously _put in their mouth_ -

Sakusa needed to stop before he thought himself into another shower. He didn’t have the time and he was already _clean_ he reminded himself. He’d only been living in this room around eight months but some surfaces were already worn down from his incessant scrubbing and industrial grade cleaning supplies.

He quickly finished his meager breakfast, took his medication, cleaned his water glass and put it away. Sakusa went back to the bathroom and brushed his teeth again, swished some extra strength Listerine around his mouth, and cleaned the bathroom sink. Then he disinfected kitchen counter, sink, and coffee table. Finally, he vacuumed the floor and chair he’d been sitting on.

Once again feeling calm, Kiyoomi checked that his gym bag had everything in it that he needed, slung it over his shoulder, slipped on his shoes and a new mask, and headed out of his safe haven once again.

The itchy feeling returned almost instantly, but he could ignore it until he finished his training for the day. He had work to do.

If Atsumu had know Sakusa was going to be one of the coordinators for training, he was pretty sure he’d have gotten back on a helicopter back to Hyogo the second he arrived.

Commander Meian explained that Sakusa had been a coach at the academy for nine years (until PPDC shut them down last year), and he, along with Iwaizumi Haijime (also an academy trainer) would be whipping those who had been ‘sitting out’ into shape.

It was a small group, Atsumu himself, Kuroo, Kenma, Tendou, and half of the Seijoh Rogue crew, minus Iwaizumi and Oikawa. And the training was grueling. Kiyoomi was quick to remind them that this wasn’t even actual _training_ just a test of where their abilities were.

“It’s not worthwhile to train someone who’s too far behind to catch up. It’s a waste of time and energy, on everyone’s part. No one in this room will set foot in a jaeger cockpit without mine and Iwaizumi’s approval.” Sakusa had said, explaining their quick training program. They were going to be held to the same standards they had back when they were cadets trying to graduate. If they could surpass that, Meian would put them on the active duty roster. If not, they could go home, or find some other way to help out at the dome.

Iwaizumi’s tests were first. How fast can you run, how high can you jump, how far can you jump, what’s your max powerclean? Bench? Squat? 100 consecutive pushups, sit ups, and squats. Burpees until you vomit.

And there was Sakusa, standing off to the side, looking very much like he’d kill anyone of them if they actually threw up.

Atsumu _knew_ it was going to be rough, but not this rough. He muscles were aching in ways they never had before, not even back when he was in academy.

When Iwaizumi finished his trials, then it was Sakusa’s turn. He wiped down all the mats and the bo staffs before they started, which didn’t make much sense to Atsumu, considering they were just going to get them all dirty and sweaty again in a few minutes.

Kiyoomi’s speciality was combat, essentially meaning his whole purpose was to whoop Atsumu’s ass. And he did, repeatedly. It took three rounds for Atsumu to stop struggling and the muscle memory to set in, giving him more of an edge, but again it had been five years since he last used any of this knowledge. Sakusa hadn’t gone a single day without training, so the match was still unfair.

Sure, Atsumu knocked Sakusa on his ass a fair few times but it was quite obvious who was superior. Especially when Sakusa was standing over Atsumu’s panting form, bo staff poised against his neck. No a single black curl was out of place and it was utterly _infuriating_ to the blonde. Atsumu felt like he was sweating buckets, and Sakusa had the _audacity_ to still smell like whatever citrus disinfectant he used to clean the mats with.

“Again.”

There was a break for lunch, nearly everyone traipsing down to the mess hall, save for Sakusa, who stayed back to clean the mats again.

Atsumu debated waiting on him, but then remembered that Sakusa didn’t eat in the mess hall, so he allowed Kuroo to drag his down with the rest of them.

At lunch Atsumu got a chance to get to know the other pilots a little better. He hadn’t been around this many drift compatible partners since he left the academy and as always it was very interesting to watch them interact. Atsumu had always been kind of interested in how drift compatibility worked, especially amongst partners who weren’t already related.

Drift compatibility was more than just moving in sync, it was complimenting each other, filling in the gaps others left open. He supposed that’s why ‘sun and moon’ matches were so common. Not quite opposites, but complimentary differences.

Akaashi and Bokuto are the most obvious, Akaashi quick to balance out Bokuto’s all over the place mood swings and attitude. Not exactly keeping him in check, like a dog on a leash. More like keeping him grounded, like a tree holding loose sand together. Bokuto in turn, removes obstacles from Akaashi’s path, calming his anxieties and leading him forward.

Kuroo and Kenma seem to know each other like the back of their hands, anticipating the other’s needs before they can every _think_ about it, but it comes off more like the squabbling of an old married couple. They’re also a couple of absolute fucking _gremlins_.

“You wouldn’t have headaches all the time if you would actually eat food instead of trying to survive exclusively off of liquid caffeine and play games all day.” Kuroo scolds, nudging Kenma.

“And you wouldn’t have an upset stomach if you’d stop eating spicy foods you can’t handle, but what do I know huh?”

Kenma doesn’t even look up from his PSP as he replies, making Kuroo flush and the whole table burst out laughing.

Tendou and Ushijima look like an odd match at first glance but it doesn’t take much to uncover how used to each other they are. Ushijima is the calm, collected, stoic one, and Tendou is the loud, bright, spontaneous one.

Ushijima seems content to let Tendou talk for the both of them, gushing over something with Futakuchi.

“Isn’t that right, Ushiwaka?”

“Yes, that’s correct.” And the pair look at each not like they hung the stars in the sky, but like they _are_ the stars.

The Seijoh Rogue crew was entertaining to say the least. They couldn’t go two minutes without poking fun at each other, and honestly they reminded Atsumu of himself and his brother. You know, if they had been quadruplets instead of twins.

“Can you stop hitting me for FIVE MINUTES?”

“I dunno, can you not like act like a total prick for five minutes?”

Hanamaki rolls his eyes, and grabs Oikawa by the collar ‘Down, boy.’

Matsukawa snickers “You guys I’m so sorry for these two, I swear we can’t take them anywhere-“

“Oh! That’s rich coming from you!” And they’d fall into another squabble.

Atsumu couldn’t help but laugh.

And then there was Hinata and Kageyama, who were honestly too similar. They were both competitive and hyperactive, and loud, and butted heads every few minutes. If the Seijoh Rogue pilots were always clowning each other, then these two were constantly challenging each other. It was funny, watching two of Japan’s most decorated jaeger pilots pull at each other’s hair and squabble like a couple of first year cadets.

Watching them interact brought back Atsumu’s worries about having someone else in his head for the first time. He was nervous about it, and maybe it would have been nice to get a partner before he started his training so he could get used to them before they had to be in the drift together. But that was a luxury offered mostly too cadets, who had plenty of time. Atsumu had two months. Besides, he had more than enough to distract him from those concerns. Between being run ragged by Iwaizumi and having the shit beat out of him by Kiyoomi, Atsumu’s plate was nearly full.

Lunch with the other captains did have the effect of lightening Atsumu’s mood considerably. He needed it too, considering what the remainder of his day consisted of. If Iwazumi and Sakusa put his body through the gauntlet, the scientists in the afternoon are there to tire his brain out.

A volley of stressor quizzes, his reactions to certain situations and stimuli, gauges for his mental state, cognitive abilities, even brain scans. Everything from mental math to hard hitting questions about his binge drinking habits.

Jaeger pilots needed to be mentally fit as well as physically fit. Even with the neural load divided amongst two or more pilots the mental strain of piloting a jaeger was extremely taxing, especially when missions went on for hours at a time. Emotionally they needed to be stable, the relationship between pilots needed to be seamless, trauma and grudges couldn't be brought into the drift. Atsumu couldn't hide him emotional damage from the doctors even if he wanted to.

He was fucked up, dear God, was he fucked up, but they assured him he wasn't in the worst state. He could still pilot, if he wanted to. Of course, they'd have to address his drinking problem, and his obvious PTSD, but Atsumu was functioning, he was doing well, he could handle himself. A few therapy sessions here and there would help him where he was lacking, and give him the extra support he needed.

Atsumu was relieved to say the least, he was sure his mental state was so far gone that they'd have no choice but to ship him back to Hyogo. But it was looking more and more like he was going to be here to stay.

Atsumu was now certifiably exhausted by every definition of the word. So, he was surprised to find two men standing outside his door.

"Ya look like shit, 'Tsumu."

Atsumu's eyes widened, and suddenly he had an extra burst of energy.

"Aran? S' that you?"

"Oi, I'm tha one talkin to ya!"

"Ya must've confused me for 'Samu, ya know he likes ya better." Atsumu teased at Suna.

Aran just rolled his eyes and chuckled. The two hadn't changed much, though Aran had grown a goatee of all things. Suna still looked very much the same, squinting at Atsumu over his glasses.

"Osamu stayed back in Hyogo? Surprised Meian didn't try to recruit him as an advisor."

"He just about kicked me out of the damn apartment. I think he's been looking for a reason to get rid of me."

"I don't blame him."

"Oi!"

At that second Sakusa came around the corner, also tired and ready to be back in his room, blessedly alone. But it appeared the universe had other plans for him. There were two other people standing in the hallway across from his room, in front of Atsumu's.

Kiyoomi groaned internally, mentally preparing himself to have to interact with more people.

Atsumu was the only person he recognized so he bobbed his head in greeting and shot him a quick, "Miya" in an effort to slip by mostly undetected. Except for some reason, when it came to Atsumu Miya he just could not slip under the radar.

"Hey, Kiyoomi! These are some of my teammates from Inarizaki-"

Sakusa froze, resisted the urge to thump his head against the wall and turned on his heel.

"It's nice to meet you both. Stop calling me Kiyoomi. Goodnight, Miya."

He quickly escaped into his room and Atsumu frowned at his closed door.

"What's his deal, huh?"

Suna shrugged and Aran tilted his head in thought.

"I don't know, I haven't seen much of Captain Sakusa since we got here. One of the other pilots might know more. Anyway, we just wanted to drop by and say hi, let your know you're not alone out here." Aran said, gesturing to Suna that they were leaving.

"Yeah, it was nice to see y'all again, we'll have to catch up sometime."

"Yeah, g'night 'Tsumu."

"'Night." he waved them down the hallway before his attention turned back to Sakusa's closed door.

Captain Sakusa? Kiyoomi used to be a pilot?

It had only been thirty minutes since Sakusa's meeting with Iwaizumi, the medical team, and Commander Meian, but he was already regretting his decision to endorse Atsumu Miya at the meeting.

Arguably, he didn't have a reason not to endorse Miya. All the canidates re-training for active duty were in better shape than Atsumu expected, even Kenma who he'd never seen so much as eat a vegetable, let alone jog.

Of course, everyone scored higher with Iwaizumi than Sakusa. It was one thing to stay in shape, but no one was really working combat training into their regular routines (except for Mastukawa Issei who had apparently been taking kickboxing classes, go figure).

“So how are our quasi-cadets doing? Does anyone need to be removed from the program?” Commander Meian asked, leaning back in his chair.

“They were already pilots so they were in pretty good shape to begin with. Some of them are worse off than others but with a little time they’ll be on par with the ones that stayed in the field.” Iwaizumi reasoned.

Meian looked relieved at the news and his eyes slid over to Sakusa.

“Kiyoomi? What about their fighting skills?”Meian asked.

A selfish part of Sakusa wanted to fail Miya, to get him out of his hair at least.

They had a bad history, which he was trying to get over, and Atsumu Miya had an amazing talent for cropping up in front of Sakusa like a blond whack-a-mole, despite Sakusa trying to keep him at arms length, just like everyone else.

And it wasn't even that he was _mad_ at Atsumu about something, he just had an annoying talent of making Sakusa more nervous than most people. It didn't help that when Sakusa looked at Atsumu he saw what he missed out on, his time of being a jaeger pilot, his golden youth. Atsumu walked around with a cocky confidence that Sakusa wished he could exude.

Here Atsumu was, five years after his twin brother had died _while they were in the drift_ and he was ready to get back in a jaeger. Komori had died eight years ago, and it hadn't even been related to work, and Sakusa still felt physically sick at the thought of drifting with someone else.

To be completely honest, Sakusa was _jealous_ of how well Atsumu could function, of how brave he was. Sakusa felt like a frightened child, and he was reminded of it every time he looked at Atsumu's beaming smile.

Sakusa sighed, ruffling his hair in his hands, and got out of bed. Despite the day he had, he wasn't tired enough to sleep, his brain running a mile a minute. Hopefully after he did a quick mop of his room he'd be tired enough to sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

If Atsumu thought that the first day was hard, the following week was absolute hell. His muscles ached and burned, his body was bruised and sore. Iwaizumi and Sakusa were pushing them to the brink, within good reason. That didn’t mean Atsumu had to enjoy it.

Back in during his first training, every year they had something called 'Hell Week'.

Two, some times even three-a-day workouts and trainings to prepare for benchmark testing and intramural competitions, both of which were taking equally seriously. This was starting to feel a whole lot like 'Hell Week' except their tight schedule effectively created one big 'Hell Month'.

Of course, it wasn't really anything Atsumu had never done before but he was older now, he didn't have the same energy he had when he was in the academy and he was out of practice. Way to far out of practice. Sure, he was getting along better than say, Kenma or Tendou but it was still hard.

"Come on, two more sets!" Iwaizumi yelled.

Atsumu could feel the sweat dripping off of his face as he powered through two more squats on his max weight. He wanted to pass out, but there was barely a five minute break before Sakusa started his own version of torture.

"Your form is atrocious. Again." Kiyoomi would say and make Atsumu hold the pose he messed up for what felt like forever.

Everything hurt, Atsumu swore he'd never taken as many ice baths as he had in the past week in his whole life and all the IcyHot and Tiger Balm meant he walked around smelling like an old man. The pilots that weren't part of the training group (namely Oikawa, Bokuto, and Hinata) wouldn't quit giving him shit for walking around like a zombie half the time.

And if it wasn't physical training, it was mental training. Daily reflex and cognitive skills testing, solving puzzle boxes and playing with something that was suspiciously similar to a Bop-It.

Mind you, the doctors said Atsumu was in good shape, but he needed to be in tip-top condition by the time they found him a drift compatible match.

Of course, no one expected Atsumu’s trauma to be completely healed within a couple months time but at least they could give him the tools to combat his symptoms. When they reared their ugly head, he’d be able to manage them.

Atsumu wasn't sure how he expected his first therapy session to go. The doctor is a kind lady with black hair and glasses, Kiyoko Shimizu. She gives off a calming aura which is good because Atsumu is nervous as hell.

"Well, normally we'd take the first session to get all the pleasantries out of the way, but considering PPDC's given me access to your whole file, I don't think its necessary. So why don't I tell you a little about myself, and then we can get into symptoms you experience, and coping mechanisms you use already. That sound good?" she asks.

"Sounds just fine to me."

Dr. Shimizu is, predictably, an angel. She doesn't make Atsumu feel bad, doesn't make him feel like he's broken or messed up in the head even though he knows he is. She reminds him that his responses are normal based on what he's been through. She praises him for the good work he's already done at taking care of himself, and helps him modify the coping habits he already has to be more effective.

"You already established a good system by keeping a routine, and even though its changed drastically in the past week you're helping refocus yourself on other things. A big part of that routine was taking care of your brother, and you don't have that here. I'd recommend getting a plant or a pet you could easily handle. Pets are allowed in the Dome, but you should let the Commander know first." she suggests and it makes sense to Atsumu.

"And as far as your nightmares go, I know you said being tired makes it easier to sleep, and it is much better than using alcohol to cope. Be careful with it though. If you overwork yourself, you could start experiencing burnout. And the fallout from that could be pretty drastic. Remember, the cure can't be worse than the sickness."

"Gotcha, doc. Thanks, fer all this. It's a lot better than what I expected." Atsumu said, standing up to leave.

Kiyoko nodded her head sagely and offered him a smile.

"I'm glad I could help, and I'll see you next week."

Atsumu opened the door to Kiyoko's office to find Sakusa Kiyoomi standing on the other side, hand poised to knock.

"Oh, Kiyoomi-" Atsumu cut himself off, unsure of what exactly to say in this situation.

He and Sakusa weren't friends and it was kind of awkward to know they had the same therapist. The thought of transferring to someone else crossed his mind, but Atsumu liked Kiyoko and wasn’t as if Sakusa was going to demand to know everything that Atsumu had just talked about. He doubted Sakusa even cared.

"Miya." he said in both greeting and goodbye, bobbing his head in a mock bow.

It wasn't until Atsumu was back in his room that he noticed that Sakusa hadn't corrected him from calling him Kiyoomi.

Sakusa doesn’t really have the wherewithal to give Atsumu more than his customary glance and greeting.

It’s ‘therapy time’ and that means for one blessed hour, Sakusa can stop worrying about the Shatterdome and kaiju and jaegers and just _be_. Call him spoiled, but this is one of his few forms of decompression that doesn’t feed into his anxieties.

“Well, you’ve made some progress this month. The amount of anxiety attacks you’ve been reporting over the last few months is down, keeping up with your meds. All in all, you’re doing great.” Kiyoko says looking over her notes.

“But?” Sakusa pushes.

He’s been under Kiyoko’s care long enough to know there’s a catch. She sighs, and takes off her glasses.

“You’re isolated. And right now it’s fine, but you need a support system. Especially with how stressful things are about to get around here.” Kiyoko points out and Sakusa freezes.

“I have a support system-“

“You have your family, back on the mainland. And you’ve gotten closer with some of the pilots, but they’re still just acquaintances to you. And I know they approached you, not the other way around.”

Sakusa snaps his mouth shut at that. She’s right but she doesn’t have to say it.

“You need friends. People you can rely on. People who can rely on _you_. Even when you’re anxious, even when you’re scared.”

“I- I don’t-“

“You can do it, Kiyoomi. The people around here, they’re probably some of the best in the world. They _want_ to get to know you. You just have to let them.”

It’s silent for a moment.

“Montoya didn’t die because you cared about him. And I can’t lie to you and say something won’t happen to the other people you choose to care about. That doesn’t mean it isn’t worth it to care though.”

Sakusa sighs and closes his eyes for a moment.

“I can try.”

Kiyoko smiles again.

“That’s all we can do, in the end. Why don’t you talk to Atsumu Miya? I think you two compliment each other.”

Sakusa snorts derisively.

“Yeah, sure.”

"Yer just old 'Tsumu, that's all there is to it." Osamu said with a shrug.

"Yeah, that's what I'll say next time yer whinin' my ear off 'bout PT. I swear, Iwazumi's tryna put me in an early grave. An' don't get me started on fucking, Kiyoomi. He'd shoot me himself if he could." Atsumu shook his head with a chuckle.

"Oi, I don't blame him fer that-"

"'Samu could ya at least _pretend_ ya miss me?"

Osamu sobered up quickly looking at the camera.

"Yeah. Yeah I do miss yer sorry mug." Osamu admitted and Atsumu felt a pang of sadness.

All his life, every step of the way, Osamu had been there right beside him. As much as he'd advocated for Atsumu to go to Tokyo, he was charting new water without him. It was freeing, but it was also terrifying.

Suddenly, a loud, blaring alarm sounded, red lights flashing around his room. Kaiju alarm.

"All personnel, please report to your designated kaiju shelter. Please move calmly and in an ordely fashion." An automated voice announced over the PA system.

"Fuck, I'll call ya back, 'Samu."

"Stay safe, ya idiot."

When Atsumu stepped out of his door, organized chaos was taking place. He caught Bokuto and Akkashi as they passed by.

"Which shelter should I be heading to?"

Both pilots looked at him like he was crazy.

"Shelter?" Bokuto asked, like he'd never heard the word before.

"Commander Meian wants all pilots both on and off duty up to the bridge." Akaashi explains.

"Oh. Why?"

"Not sure, come on, we'll show you the way."

Atsumu follows the couple to the service elevator that leads to the main bridge. It's mostly silent, save for the kaiju alarm going off. Bokuto is nearly vibrating with excitement on the way up. Most of the other pilots have already gathered, along with Commander Meian and Sakusa.

"Bokuto, Akaashi, Miya, nice of you to join us. Where's Kuroo and Tendou?" Meian asked.

"Still down in the lab. They're running some kind of calculation, said it's a big deal. They'll be up as soon as they can." A blonde man with glasses Atsumu hasn't met before chimes in.

"Thanks Tsukkishima. You ready to give us the rundown on this asshole?"

Tsukkishima smirked and pushed up his glasses. He held out his PADD, throwing up a holographic projection of a kaiju. It looked like a gorilla, maybe if gorillas had armor like a pangolin.

"Category 2, Diamondback. Moving rather slow, but it drug itself out of the breach on our side, so it's our problem. Too far north to let the Southern branch handle. As you can see, its not the most amphibious kaiju in the world so the main goal is not lot let it make any kind of landfall. It'll be easier to beat in the water. We need either a two-part team or one jaeger that moves well in the ocean and has enough brute strength to take this thing down." Tsukkishims says.

"Alright then. Seijoh Rogue, Winged Harbinger, Twilight Destroyer, and Iron Wall, who's up?"

Sakusa speaks up at that.

"Seijoh Rogue can't go, half their team isn't ready to go yet. It's going to have to be either Iron Wall, Harbinger or Detroyer as back up."

"Seijoh Rogue, any complaints?" Meian asks.

There seems to be a consensus amongst the four pilots that they aren't ready to be out in the field again yet. It's unfortunate. Atsumu's seen Rogue, and he's sure that it could take out Diamonback on it's own.

"Harbinger and Destroyer sound good to you? Sakusa? Tsukkishima? Kenma?" Meian asks for the green light from his three main advisors.

"It should be more than enough fire power between the both of them." Kenma agrees.

"You need Iron Wall." Atsumu speaks up before he even thinks about it. All eyes in the room snap to him.

"Care to elaborate, Atsumu?" Meian asks, gesturing for him to speak.

Atsumu hesitates, but then Sakusa quirks and eyebrow at him like its some sort of _challenge_.

"That armor on Diamondback's body is gonna be hard as fuck to pierce. S'not gonna take any damage from guns and shells. Yer either gonna have ta shove a bomb down it's throat like a fuckin pill, or have enough brute strength to break the shell. Harbinger an Destroyer are both Mark-5s. They got the speed an agility an all the guns, but the alloy used in the shell is gonna crumple like paper under that thing. Iron Wall's a restored Mark-2, she's built like a damn kaiju shelter an I know she's got some serious torque in those muscle engines." Atsumu explains.

The room goes somewhat quiet as everyone stares at Atsumu. He looks ast Sakusa who just looks away from him.

"What? Me n 'Samu helped take down Steelcleaver of the southern coast, it had the same stuff on its back." He further explained.

"Well, that made my job a bit easier. Destroyer, Iron Wall, suit up. Atsumu, I want you running strategy with Sakusa on this one. Let's get a move on, people." Meian orders and the team breaks.

"Joint mission!" Hinata says, punching his fist in the air as he headed for the hangar elevator.

"Hinata, you idiot, will you shut up?" Kageyama groans palming his face.

He wants Atsumu to do _what_ with _who_?

"Let's go, Miya." Sakusa says.

"Fer the thousandth time, my name is Atsumu!"

Sakusa shot him a bored look.

"Is now really the time to be worried about that? Now sit down and tell me every fucking detail you can remember about that fight with Steelcleaver. Quickly." Sakusa ordered.

Bokuto seemed a little crestfallen that they weren't choosing Winged Harbinger for this mission, but like everyone else, he quickly became absorbed by monitoring Destroyer and Iron Wall.

Tsukkishima had identified an uninhabited island that the kaiju seemed to be headed for, and the drop was scheduled to be a few hundred kilometers away from it. Hopefully, the two jaegers would be able to kill the creature in the water.

"Drop complete, contact in three minutes."

"Harbinger, remember to stay focused, Iron Wall is running point on this mission. Your goal is to distract the target while Iron Wall identifies it's weak points. If they manage to subdue it, shove a nuke down it's throat and then get the _hell_ out of there, is that understood?"

"Aye, Aye Captain Sakusa!" Hinata chirps back over the comms.

"Shut up, Shoyo!"

"Hey! Focus you two! No fighting in the drift!" Meian scolds.

The replying 'sorry' is reminiscent of children being scolded by a parent. Atsumu can't help but snort. Sakusa smacks the side of his head in a way that is horrifyingly reminiscent of Osamu.

"You focus too, idiot, you're running strategy with me. We have to tell them how to beat this thing."

"I am focused!"

"No, what you are is _whiny_."

Atsumu scoffs, horribly offended.

"I'll have you know-"

"Hey! You two cut it out! I swear to God its like running a daycare! We are _trying_ to save the world here!" Meian sighs.

"Sorry, Commander." Atsumu says, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.

"Alright, so Iron Wall, yer gonna wanna look fer any discrepancies in the armor, scales facing the wrong way an all. Usually its around the limbs or the stomach, or eyes and nose. That'll be the weak spots and where ya want to aim yer attacks." Atsumu advises.

Sakusa has to admit that Atsumu is making himself useful. His knowledge from his fight with Steelbreaker saved Kiyoomi precious time, speeding reading similar kaiju accounts for relevant information. He found himself thankful for the blonde's presence.

Atsumu was also realizing that having a strategist like Kiyoomi at HQ was extremely helpful. He would have given just about anything to have a little voice helping him out back in Kobe. Inarizaki wasn't big enough and didn't have enough funds to hire a strategist, so the team did their best to prepare them before hand, but a lot of their information was outdated and nearly useless.

The fight lasted and hour and a half. Twilight Destroyer had taken some major damage when Diamondback had first caught sight of the orange and black jaeger. It was nothing the mechanics couldn't handle and both sets of pilots were unharmed, so all in all it was a good mission.

Atsumu smiled up at Sakusa when the other man stood up to stretch. His first instinct was to drag Kiyoomi into a hug, the way most everyone else was already doing, but Atsumu prefered to be alive thank you very much.

He was going to say, something, he wasn't sure what, when the elevator doors slid open. Kuroo and Tendou sprinted into the room, brandishing a stack of papers.

"Oh, look who finally showed up."

"Sorry to rain on the victory parade, but we've got some bad news."

The mood in the bridge quickly shifted.

"What are you talking about?"

"A while ago, we thought we noticed a pattern in kaiju activity. So, Tendou made a crack pot prediction for the next kaiju attack. We didn't even do any calculations." Kuroo explained.

"And?"

"I was off by twenty minutes." Tendou added.

"So, we have a way to predict kaiju attacks now? What's the bad news?" Meian asks.

"We went ahead an ran the numbers for the next few kaiju attacks. That's what took us so long-" Kuroo started, but Meian interrupted him.

"The point, Tetsuro."

"We're three months out from a double event." Tendou explains.

The bridge went eerily silent. Meian circled around the large center table and picked up the papers that Kuroo was holding. He scanned them quickly.

"You've even got predictions for the categories.... I'll look over these in the morning. We all deserve a bit of rest after that, don't you think? We can start formulating a contingency plan tomorrow. For now, reset the clock. Dismissed." Meian ordered.

The bridge emptied slowly, but the mood had drastically changed. A double event had never happened before. It just took half of their prepared arsenal to stop just one category 2. Suddenly, Atsumu realized that if a category 4 showed up tomorrow they'd be well and truly fucked.

He wandered listlessly around the dome, until he found himself in the upper floors of Black Jackal's hangar. Atsumu felt a little numb, and he feared what his mind would conjure up to torture him with if he went to sleep now. He was surprised to see someone else on the catwalk across Black Jackal's chest. When they heard his footsteps on the metal floor they looked up.

"Kiyoomi?"

"What are you doing here, Miya?"

Neither man corrected each other on the name they used. Atsumu shrugged.

"I was just thinking and walking around. What about you?"

Sakusa was silent. Atsumu walked closer, but still stopped a good distance away from Kiyoomi. Atsumu didn't want to make him uncomfortable.

"You were pretty damn cool tonight, huh Kiyoomi?"

"What are you talking about?" Sakusa balks.

"We never had a strategist back Hyogo. It sure woulda been nice to have someone like you on our side."

Sakusa was silent for a moment processing Atsumu's words. _Was Atsumu praising him?_

"You- you did a good job too. I didn't think you would, but you were surprisingly useful."

"Aw geez, Kiyoomi! That almost sounded like a compliment!"

Sakusa shot him a withering glare, and Atsumu raised his hands to show he meant no harm.

"I'm just playing with ya, I'll stop."

Kiyoomi huffed.

"We're not half ready for that double event, are we?" Atsumu asked.

Sakusa snorted.

"Not even a little bit."

"I think we got a better shot with you around." Atsumu says.

Sakusa's eyes widen and he looks at Atsumu. He's not looking at Kiyoomi though, looking up at the stars through the open hangar doors.

"We'll be in better shape once we get you and the others in a jaeger." Kiyoomi says.

It's silent between the two of them for a few calm moments.

"Sometimes, I use the gym late at night. No one comes in there at that time. If you want to put in some extra practice." Sakusa offers.

He doesn't know why he says it, and the words are out of his mouth before he can even think about it. He surprises both himself and Atsumu.

"Are ya offerin me _private_ training lessons Omi-kun? I feel so special!" he smiled again.

Sakusa already regretted his offer.

"Come if you want. It doesn't make a difference to me whether or not you show up." Sakusa huffs and stands up.

He's halfway across the catwalk before he freezes and whirls back around to Atsumu.

"Who the fuck told you you could call me 'Omi-kun'?" Sakusa seethed, but Atsumu had already gotten up and was waving goodbye walking the opposite direction.


	6. Chapter 6

Kiyoomi gave Atsumu the days and times he was normally in the base gym so he could swing by for an extra practice session if he wanted to.

He wasn’t surprised that Atsumu took him up on the offer, he was hard working. Kiyoomi found that admirable at least.

He had forgotten to exchange contact information with Atsumu though, so he started when he glanced in the mirror and saw the blonde just... staring at him.

“Are you just going to stand there all night looking like an idiot, Miya?” Sakusa sked, resuming his exercise.

Objectively, Atsumu knew Kiyoomi was attractive. He had that whole dark and light contrast with his pale skin and pitch black hair and eyes. He was muscular, obviously, after years of training. Kiyoomi regularly flipped Atsumu over like he was no heavier than a fifteen pound bag of rice. He had to be built.

However, being faced with Sakusa’s bare torso, just barely glistening with sweat as he did pull-ups, was going to make Atsumu’s brain short circuit. He could see every well defined muscle in Kiyoomi’s back and arms flex as he slowly lifted himself up and down. And there were more moles, scattered across his back like inverse constellations.

“Huh?” Atsumu mumbled, ripping his eyes away from Kiyoomi’s body.

Sakusa rolled his eyes and dropped down from the pull up bar. When he turned, Atsumu realized he wasn’t wearing a _mask_. Atsumu had been on base for nearly half a month and he’d never seen the bottom half of his face. Half of him had expected to see a scar or blemish that Kiyoomi was always covering up, but no. The other half of Kiyoomi’s face was just as flawless as the rest of him. Aristocratic features, high cheekbones, but he didn’t look delicate. He was quite infuriatingly attractive, Atsumu thought.

It wasn’t fair for Kiyoomi to be so mean and so _hot_.

Then Kiyoomi hit him in the back of the head with his bo staff, and swept Atsumu’s feet from under him.

“Focus, Miya.”

Oh yeah, he was still an asshole. Just a pretty one.

“Fuck, Omi-kun, that hurts ya know?” Atsumu grumbles.

“Then don’t get hit. And stop calling me that stupid nickname.” Kiyoomi orders, tapping the staff against Atsumu’s forehead.

Atsumu swatting it away and got back up, grabbing a spare staff from the wall.

“Why? I think it fits you. Can ya go easy on the headshots today? Yer a damn brute.” Atsumu complains, rubbing his temple.

Kiyoomi can’t recall the last time someone gave him a nickname. Maybe he was a toddler, his older family members had called him something like that. It’s not the worst thing in the world, so he decides not to make a huge deal about it.

“I suppose I can go easier on you today. You won’t be very useful if I knock out what’s left of your braincells.” Kiyoomi teases.

“Oi, are ya calling me stupid?” Atsumu fumes, and Kiyoomi laughs.

He smiles. Kiyoomi smiles. At Atsumu.

And the next thing he knows he’s on his back again. Now Kiyoomi is grinning, leaning over Atsumu, blocking out the bright industrial lighting with his dark hair.

“I didn’t say all that. But if the shoe fits...”

“I’m gonna beat yer ass!”

It isn’t until Kiyoomi is back in his room, taking off his shoes and sweaty clothes when he realizes. He reaches his hand up to loop his finger through the ear loop of his mask that isn’t there. He normally doesn’t wear a mask during his late night workouts, and Atsumu had kind of creeped up on him, so he must have forgotten. But even after they were done and left the gym, Kiyoomi still hadn’t remembered to put on a mask.

They hadn’t run into anyone in the hallways on their walk back to the barracks, so Atsumu was the only person he’d come in contact with while vulnerable. And surprisingly, Kiyoomi didn’t feel disgusting, didn’t feel dirty, his lungs didn’t ache, he didn’t feel the need to kick his humidifier on high and shove his face in the steam.

And Kiyoomi didn’t know what that meant.

Sakusa and Atsumu fell into a bit of a routine after that.

They both woke up early and went for a run around the dome. Then Atsumu would go down to the mess to eat while Sakusa went back to his room. They’d meet back up on the way to the training room, and arrive together.

No one blinked when that happened, Atsumu and Sakusa lived across the hall from each other anyway. It made sense for them to come to practice together.

What was strange however was the way they moved in training together. Atsumu was much better at predicting Sakusa’s actions during combat training.

Sakusa would say things to Atsumu that sounded like insults, but upon further review we’re actually motivations.

“You can do better than that.”

“This is nothing.”

“Is this your best?”

Honestly, everyone was happily surprised at the breakthrough Atsumu and Sakusa had in their relationship. Kiyoko was proud of Sakusa for making some headway with social interactions, Meian was relieved that Atsumu was feeling at home on the base.

Well, almost everyone. The other captains felt a bit differently about it, considering they had their own theories about the change in their friends.

“I swear to God, I’m going to-“

“You aren’t doing anything, do you hear me Shitty-kawa? Leave them alone, we don’t even know if you’re right.” Iwaizumi scolds.

“I am right, everyone knows I’m right!” Oikawa retorts, poking Iwaizumi in the chest.

“I dunno, Oikawa’s got a point. It’s like he’s got his own neural bridge up there. It’s freaky how easy it is for him to predict drift partners.” Kuroo points out.

“Really though? Sakusa and Atsumu are drift compatible? They’re barely friends.” Futakuchi says.

“What about Hinata and Kageyama then?”

“Those two are monsters-“

“Hey, I have ears you know!”

“What’s goin on guys?” Atsumu asks and all conversation stop.

The group takes in Atsumu and beside him, looking only mildly unconfortable is Sakusa.

“Oh, I invited Omi-Omi out with us, hope that’s cool!”

The silence continued for another minute before Bokuto broke it, welcoming Kiyoomi to the table.

Yeah, something was definitely going on there.

“So, I told Omi-kun that-“ Atsumu stopped talking and froze, realizing that Suna and Aran were staring at him.

So we’re a few other mechanics sitting at their table. Atsumu was currently eating dinner and catching with his old teammates when the subject landed on Kiyoomi.

“What? There somethin’ between my teeth?” Atsumu asked, picking up a spoon to check.

“Captain Sakusa let’s you call him ‘Omi-Kun’?” Suna deadpans.

“Yeah? What’s wrong with that? Anyway, I thought Omi was an academy coordinator, isn’t he a lieutenant?” Atsumu asked.

“Nah, he’s a captain. Everyone except the pilots call him Captain Sakusa. Surprised he hasn’t choked you out fer callin him Omi.” Aran adds with a chuckle.

“Probably thinks Atsumu’s neck is too dirty to be worth it.” Suna chimes in.

“I’ll have you know Omi-kun thinks I’m very clean. He doesn’t even wear his mask when we train alone.” Atsumu brags and that REALLY gets everyone attention.

The other mechanics were now looking at Atsumu like he’d grown a second head.

“He gives you private lessons?”

“He takes his mask off? I was startin to think his face didn’t have a bottom half. Y’know like a ‘Phantom of the Opera’ type of deal.” Aran and Suna asked at the same.

“C’mon you guys are acting like Omi’s not human or somethin.” Atsumu grouses.

No one says anything to that, Atsumu is too focused on other things. Like why would Sakusa be a captain when he knows the black haired man has never piloted a jaeger. Only pilots have the title of captain so how?

“Sakusa, status report. How are the trainees doing?” Meian asks during one of their nightly debriefs.

Most of the senior staff is there, scientists, analysts, mechanics, and a few pilots.

“We might be able to have the Seijoh Rogue on active duty faster than normal, Matuskawa and Hanamaki are improving faster than the rest. We should have them do a test run at the end of the week. If the medical team green lights it, it might be time to start assessing candidates for Atsumu’s co-pilot.”

Meian looks at Sakusa strangely.

“You’ve got some idea already?” Meian pushes.

“Approximately 35 possible matches, but once we get a diagnostic result from Atsumu we can thin them out a little.”

Now everyone was looking at Sakusa in disbelief.

“What? Do you disagree?” Sakusa challenges, arching an eyebrow.

“No, not all all.” Kuroo says but he’s got a shit eating grin on his face.

Sakusa crosses his arms and leans back in his chair.

“You obviously have something to say, out with it.”

“You called him Atsumu.” Tendou pipes up.

Sakusa rolls his eyes.

“Yes, last time I checked that _was_ his name.”

“His _first_ name. I’ve never heard you call anyone by their first name since I’ve known you.” Oikawa points out.

“He has a twin brother. It’s confusing.” Sakusa reasons.

“You’ve never even _met_ Osamu. Calling him Miya would work just fine. “ Kuroo points out.

“Commander Meian are you really going to let them-“

“Now, now Captain Sakusa, let’s hear them out.”

Sakusa has never felt more betrayed in his life. What does it matter what he calls Atsumu?

“I’m a little jealous, I’ve known Sakusa for years and he’s never called me by my first name.” Bokuto pouts.

 _Vultures._ Sakusa thinks. _A bunch of gossip-hungry vultures, every last one of them._

“You saw how defensive he got when he thought I was going to stop him from promoting Atsumu?” Kuroo points out and the meeting is utterly derailed.

“Are we going to sit around here and speculate about why I call Atsumu by his _name_ or are we going to do our jobs? You know, just saving the world from giant inter-dimensional monsters. Nothing important. Nothing time sensitive.” Sakusa shrugs.

The table quiets down but Sakusa can tell this isn’t over.

“Well, thank you for your report Captain Sakusa.” Meian says before getting serious again.

“Finally, I want to remind everyone that the PPDC council is sending an internal evaluation team soon. I’ll need all of you to be on our best behavior. It would be good if could get Seijoh Rogue active before they come. That’s all for tonight. Dismissed.” Meian announces.

Everyone salutes and exits the conference room.

“Sakusa, a word.”

Sakusa sits back down, and they wait for the room to fully empty before he speaks.

“I took a look at the group they’re sending for the eval. I thought I should let you know-“

Sakusa interrupts him.

“My uncle is on the board. Of course he would be chosen to observe us.” Sakusa reasons.

“You gonna be okay? You don’t have to do this. We could have someone else take point for the day.”

“It’s fine. It’ll be worse if someone else does it. He’ll expect to see me. Thank you for your concern, Commander.”

Meian sighs. He knows that Sakusa’s turned up his walls, his emotions and thoughts locked up like Fort Knox. It would be futile to push him anymore.

“Alright then. Let me know if anything changes. You’re dismissed.”

Kiyoomi was on edge for the next week and a half. Atsumu wanted to ask if something was bothering the other male, but he wasn't sure about it. Sakusa was obviously a very private person, and it seemed Atsumu was lucky Kiyoomi would even give him the time of day. He decided to keep his mouth shut and keep doing the same things. If Kiyoomi wanted to talk to him, he would bring it up himself.

On the following Wednesday, there was a break in Kiyoomi and Atsumu's schedule. Kiyoomi had cancelled their training session the night before to better prepare for the council visit in the morning. Training for the retired pilots had been moved back until after the evaluation was over, so the two didn't meet for their customary run that morning. Instead they both got dressed in their formal uniforms and headed up to the heli-pad to welcome the auditors.

Atsumu could feel the negative emotion rolling off of Kiyoomi in waves.

"Hey, Omi-kun, m'not really sure what you're stressed about, but I'm sure it'll be fine." Atsumu says. He debates patting Kiyoomi's shoulder in a calming fashion, but its possible that might do more harm than good. Kiyoomi looks mildly relieved at his words, but doesn't say anything.

Kiyoomi's brain had been moving a mile a minute since he woke up that morning, running over his checklists time and time again, checking in with multiple departments to ensure that everything was running smoothly. The Seijoh Rogue team had a positive test run a few days before, so they had been cleared for active duty, fleshing out their arsenal. The science team had turned their predictions into a paper they'd be presenting to the council during today's visit. The mech crews had already fixed any exterior damages to Iron Wall and Twilight Destroyer. When Atsumu stepped out of his room, Kiyoomi's thoughts screeched to a halt.

Atsumu was, objectively, attractive. It was extremely hard to look bad in dress blues (Kiyoomi had always been a sucker for a man in uniform). He had to admit, Atsumu looked _hot_. There really was no better word for it. The belt accentuated how thin his waist was, though Kiyoomi knew it was nowhere near delicate. And dear God, his _thighs_. The pants Atsumu normally wore during training had a loose fit, but these dress pants hugged his legs in ways that should have been _illegal_ , one good squat and Kiyoomi was sure they'd rip apart-

Kiyoomi caught himself before his train of thought was completely derailed. He tilted his head up toawrds the ceiling, squinting his eyes against the harsh industrial lighting. He needed to focus.

The visit started off well. The auditors were impressed with the presentation from Kuroo and Tendou, found the facility to be running smoothly. Everything was fine, and then Vice-Admiral Komori had to throw in his two cents. They had just finished the tour of the hangar, and the group was currently standing in front of Stygian Jackal.

"We spent billions of dollars retrofitting Stygian Jackal, and you don't even have a pilot for her?" Kiyoomi's uncle asked.

At first Meian tried to mediate, but Sakusa's uncle was cruel.

"As you can see, we do have a pilot for Stygian Jackal. Once he's cleared for active duty, he'll be assigned a co-pilot-"

Vice-Admiral Komori laughed, and Atsumu found that he really didn't like the noise. Kiyoomi looked like he was in pain again. Atsumu wanted to say something, but he feared making things worse, or having it look like Meian was allowing insubordination. Yeah, he had a smart mouth, but he knew when best to keep it shut.

"A co-pilot? From where? You've already dug up every retired pilot in the country. And I'll admit, you've done a good job dusting them off, but all I really see here is a waste of tax dollars and half hangar's worth of active duty jaegers. It's a bit of a waste, isn't it?" the Vice-Admiral continued.

Sakusa took a deep breath. He counted down from three. Then he mustered the most withering glare he could and turned to face his uncle.

"A watse? What about dismissing an entire graduating class of cadets?" Sakusa shot back.

"It's useless to let people graduate who would never even set foot in a jaeger." the Vice-Admiral replied coolly.

Sakusa's eyebrow arched. _Oh, shit._ Atsumu thought. _He's done it now._

Sakusa's stance shifted minutely and he faced his uncle head on.

"Vice-Admiral Komori, do you have a point to this little tirade? Because if you thought that our program was a _waste_ , you had plenty of chances to oppose when we initially proposed this project to the council. I would like to remind you that even if you disagree with the program, it is much too late to voice your malcontent. We have no new graduates, more than 60% of our jaegers were retired, and all other Shatterdomes in Japan are closed. We are doing the best we can, with what we have, and our veterans are making amazing progress, the specifics of which we will address later during the evaluation. " Sakusa paused briefly.

Atsumu wished he had a camera to film the verbal tongue lashing Sakusa was currrently giving his uncle. Maybe he could ask Suna for a video later.

"Without this program, Japan would have only three active duty jaegers to protect against the double event our science team has predicted. Currently, we have four. Soon, enough we'll have seven. Now, Vice-Admiral if you have any relevant questions about our pilot re-training program, either I, Commander Meian, or Captain Iwaizumi would be happy to answer them."

"Please, _Captain Sakusa_ I didn't mean anything by that, don't take my words so seriously. Though I am happy to see how... intense you are here. It reminds me of you during your academy days. To think someone who's never even set foot in a jaeger can be so passionate about these things. I was just thinking, wouldn't it be sad if Poison Flare never got to walk, even after all those years waiting and a complete overhaul?"

Sakusa froze, looking away.

"Poison Flare doesn't exist anymore."

"No, I suppose somethings never come back, no matter how much you wish they would."

It was silent in the hangar for a moment, no one sure what to say to that.

"If you'll follow me this way, we'll continue with the tour..." Meian said finally, gesturing to the exit. The group moved out of the hangar and all of the pilots and mechanics breathed a sigh of relief.

"The fuck was all of that about?" Atsumu asked Bokuto afterwards.

"I don't know everything about it, but supposedly, Sakusa's uncle has always been rough on him whenever they cross paths. Some family stuff with his dad, I think." Bokuto answers with a shrug.

Even his normally excited demeanor has been dampened by the display from earlier.

"What about all that stuff about Stygian Jackal?" Atsumu questioned further.

All that talk about Poison Flare, and the derisive way in which Sakusa's uncle said 'Captain'..... what exactly was all of this about?

"I don't know, I've never heard that other jaeger name, but you know most of the information on jaeger's is public access. You could look it up." Akaashi suggested.

"Yeah, thanks, I think I will. See you guys later."

After the auditors finally got back on their helipad and left the Shatterdome, Sakusa stumbled his way back to his barracks. He'd told Meian to go ahead and cancel the training for today, give the pilots a day off. They deserved it, and Sakusa needed it.

Seeing his uncle was never fun, the Vice-Admiral and his father had a falling out years ago, and had been forced to act civil while Kiyoomi and Motoya were in school. Then Komori died, and things only got worse from there. Kiyoomi's father received the position of Admiral, meaning he spent less time with his son, but with his uncle just being a Vice-Admiral, he was always directly above Sakusa, talking over and down to him whenever possible.

He was angry, of course, that Sakusa hadn't been the one to get hit that night. He'd said as much, even kept Sakusa's side of the family from attending the funeral. If Kiyoomi hadn't had survivor's guilt before, he did after that. It was part of the reason he couldn't drift, why he could never really move on. His uncle wouldn't let him.

Every time they crossed paths he brought it up, not only Komori's death, but how much of a failure Sakusa was for not being able to pilot, how much of a _waste_ it was for their jaeger, Poison Flare to sit in a dry bay collecting dust. As if it wasn't his own fault for preventing other pilots for assuming ownership. For seven years he kept Poison Flare as a sick reminder of how totally useless Kiyoomi was.

Then Kiyoomi's father had finally put his foot down and Poison Flare, now outdated and stiff, had been overhauled into Stygian Jackal.

Usually, Kiyoomi could handle his emotions fairly well. But there was just something especially cruel about the way his uncle brought his shortcomings and fears to the surface. He just couldn't get it back under control. He didn't even make it back to his room before he collapsed, eyes too blurry with tears to see. He breathing and heart rate quickened and he felt like he was _dying_. He ripped off his mask clumsily, gasping for air, still feeling like he was suffocating. He closed his eyes and buried his head between his knees, hiding his eyes from the lights and trying to calm the waves of nausea rolling through his stomach He tried to remember a coping mechanism to help him calm himself down, but he just couldn't breathe and it was _terrifying_.

At times like this, he felt so small and useless. His years of practice and counselling meant nothing because mentally, he was 18 again, kneeling in the street, watch Komori choke on his own blood.

"Omi-kun? Kiyoomi!"

Sakusa gasped and lifted his head up, looking around for who was calling his name. Why were the lights so goddamn bright, they _hurt_ -

Suddenly his blurred vision is filled with Atsumu's concerned face.

"Omi-kun, you need to breathe-"

 _I can't_ Sakusa wants to say. He's sobbing too hard to say anything coherent.

"Here, like this. Slowly." Atsumu takes Sakusa's hand and puts it on his own chest and inhales slowly. He counts out the inhales and exhales, forcing Sakusa to slow down. Kiyoomi's lungs stutter on the first few breathes but eventually they even out. The tears slowly dry up, and his heart rate returns to normal.

As his vision clears Kiyoomi sees Atsumu squatting in front of him, looking for further signs of distress.

"Feelin better?"

"Yes, thank you." Kiyoomi says, but his voice rasps.

"S'ok. 'Samu used to get 'em a lot after the accident. S' a good thing I ran into you. C'mon, let's get you inside, yeah?" Atsumu slips an arm under Kiyoomi's and lifts them from the ground easily.

Sakusa's too tired from his attack to stop himself from thinking, _Wow, the pants survived._

Priorities, right?

Atsumu helped Kiyoomi get through his door, and toed his own shoes off. He sat Kiyoomi down on the couch and disappeared into the kitchenette.

"Ya got any tea in here, Omi-kun?"

"Second cupboard from the wall. Mug's on the third shelf." Kiyoomi answered.

Atsumu came back a few minutes later with a steaming mug that he handed to Kiyoomi. He perched himself on the couch, on the opposite side to give Sakusa some space.

They sit in silence for a few minutes before Atsumu can't take it.

"Does that happen often?"

Sakusa shakes his head and sips his tea.

Atsumu knows he shouldn't pry. But the PPDC file on Poison Flare hadn't been conclusive, and it didn't explain why he found Kiyoomi having an anxiety attack in the hallway. He wants to help, but he can't do that very well with the knowlegde he currently has.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he tries and Sakusa sends him a withering look.

He shouldn't say anything more but the curiosity has been eating away at him for too long.

"It was about your uncle, wasn't it?" Atsumu asks.

"It's none of your goddamn business." Sakusa spits.

Atsumu stares at Kiyoomi blankly. Sakusa doesn't curse half as often as Atsumu does, but he's never heard Kiyoomi's voice filled with that much venom. Not even today when he was talking to his uncle. Atsumu finds himself speaking before he can think, which usually gets him in trouble.

"I looked up Poison Flare on the PPDC database, I know about Komori-"

"You don't know _anything_ about me or Komori." Sakusa seethes.

"Look, Omi, I'm just tryin to help-" Atsumu tries but Kiyoomi is already furious.

"I didn't ask for your help! Stop sticking your nose where it doesn't belong!" Sakusa yells.

Now, Atsumu is getting angry. No fucking wonder no one on the base wants to spend time with Sakusa. He's reminded that he's an awful person. If he pushes away everyone the way he's trying to shove Atsumu out right now...

"I'm sorry for tryin to help out a friend! Didn't know it was a crime to look at public files." Atsumu shoots back.

"I'm not your fucking friend, I'm your commanding officer. I don't need you to care about me, and I don't need you digging up my past when you have no right to." Sakusa retorts.

Atsumu knows that tone of voice, the steely look in Kiyoomi's eyes. He's not going to get anywhere sitting here yelling at him all night. He ight as well leave it.

"No we're not. And it's no wonder ya don't have any other friends if this is the way ya treat everyone that tries to actually get to know ya. Don't worry, next time I'll leave you crying in the goddamn hallway, since ya want to be left alone so fucking bad."

Atsumu stands up and stomps out of the door. Sakusa lets him go. His head hurts. He's tired. He falls into a fitful sleep right there on the couch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> trouble in paradise lol  
> i decided to change some of the jaeger names and forgot to change the earlier chapter before i posted so incase you're confused:  
> obsidian kitsune: miya twins  
> seijoh rogue: mattsun, makki, Oikawa, iwaizumi  
> winged harbinger: akaashi & bokuto  
> twilight destroyer: hinata and kageyama  
> royal eagle: ushijima and tendou  
> iron wall: aone and futakuchi
> 
> also if you like this au and you want to know more about the seijoh rogue crew let me know in the comments! i kind of want to do a prequel about them


	7. Chapter 7

The rift that opens up between Atsumu and Kiyoomi after their fight might as well have been as wide as the breach. It was much too glaringly obvious that _something_ had changed between the two. Everyone could tell something was up.

Security personnel noted that the two no longer took runs together in the morning. Instead, Atsumu would wake up five minutes earlier and go running on the lower deck while Kiyoomi took his on the upper decks. Iwaizumi and the rest of the training group realized something was up when the pair arrived fifteen minutes apart from each other, instead of together. Outside of training, they completely ignored each other. Without Sakusa there to spar with him, there wasn't much reason for any extra training sessions either.

And if that wasn't enough of a clue, the way Kiyoomi treated him during training was. Sakusa's hits were harder, more brutal, and his words were sharper, almost berating. Of course, it wasn't enough to require Iwaizumi to step in, but it was enough for there to be a clear difference.

"Do you think they fought or something?" Kuroo asks.

The other pilots and captains are trying to decode exactly what went down between the two before Atsumu gets back to the table. He was halfway across the mess hall putting up everyone's lunch trays, but it didn't matter. Not one of them could whisper for their _lives_.

"Of course they fought, the only question is, what about?" Tendou points out.

"This is between Sakusa and Atsumu, we should not speculate about what did or did not happen." Ushijima chimes in.

"Yeah, when did we become a group of gossipy old ladies? You all sound like my auntie." Kenma adds.

"We're not gossiping, we are trying to help two dear friends make nice." Oikawa says, causing Iwaizumi to groan.

"He has a point. Atsumu and Sakusa are good together. I think their friendship is beneficial to the both of them." Akaashi adds.

"Yeah, but if Atsumu won't-"

"If 'Tusmu won't what?" Atsumu asks, returning to the table. His expression is schooled into one that he hopes is nonchalant, but there is a twinge of anger. really,

"You heard that?" Hinata asks, having the consideration to at least look guilty. Unlike Oikawa. Asshat.

"Yer a bunch of nosy fucks aren't ya?" Atsumu asks, but there's no heat behind the words.

"Me an Sakusa got into it after the PPDC visit. I overestimated our relationship I suppose. S'not a big deal." Atsumu shrugs to try and play it off.

There's an overwhelming feeling of pity that washes over the table and Atsumu groans.

"Oh, don't look at me like I'm some kicked puppy! Ya can't be friends with everyone." he reasons.

"That's too bad. It just kind of seemed like you guys clicked, you know?" Matsukawa says.

"Yeah. Yeah it did seem like that."

No one mentions the fact that Atsumu had switched back to calling Sakusa by his last name.

Without the extra late-night training sessions Atsumu finds he isn't as bone tired as he needs to be in order to avoid his nightmares. They aren't as vivid as they were the first night, but he'd prefer to be without them all together.

"You know, you could just, I don't know, try talkin' to Sakusa. Instead of callin' me every night to gripe about him tyin' his shoelaces a way ya don't like>" Osamu points out.

"He's an _asshole_ , 'Samu-" Atsumu starts, but his brother cuts him off.

"Then don't fuckin' talk to him! Finish yer training and don't worry about him if he's so damn awful!" Osamu yells and Atsumu huffs.

"I don't worry about him-"

"Then why the _fuck_ are ya always talking about him? Just kiss an make up already, damn." Osamu interrupts.

"Ya know I've got an actual therapist now. I don't need ya tellin' me how to handle my problems." Atsumu grumbles.

"Yeah? And I bet she ain't say anythin' different then what I am." Osamu says smugly.

Atsumu hangs up the video call at that and Osamu can't help but laugh. They may be twins, but Atsumu had always been the less mature one. Him hanging up just meant that Osamu was _right_ and Atsumu didn't have a good comeback.

And he didn't. It was true that Kiyoko had said essentially the same thing during their session that week.

"Do you want things to go back to the way they were before?" Kiyoko had asked.

Atsumu had been startled, expecting Kiyoko to start telling him to get over it.

"Huh?"

"Do you miss Sakusa? If so, you're going to have to confront this with him. Apologize for stepping over his boundaries, but also make him acknowledge why you were upset."

It's been three fucking days. He doesn't _miss_ Sakusa. That's stupid.

Kiyoko found herself having a similar coversation with Sakusa during his session.

"So are you going to tell me why you and Atsumu are fighting or....?" Kiyoko starts when its been five minutes and Sakusa has yet to say anything.

"I'm... just not ready to be close to someone again. Not like that, not yet." Sakusa admits.

Maybe it was childish but he didn't want Atsumu to look at him differently. The pity in people's eyes when they found out about _why_ Sakusa had never been active duty. It made his skin itch worse than any germs every did.

"Well, Captain Sakusa, it's up to you in the end, but we're on the verge of the end of the world right now. If not now, and if not Atsumu, then who and when? Sometimes, the world won't wait for us to be ready."

Sakusa hates how right Kiyoko is sometimes, he really does.

Kiyoko isn't the only one pushing him to make nice with Atsumu either. Meian is like a fucking bloodhound for any difference in Sakusa's demeanor, and the rest of the senior officers are on his side. He wants to pretend he didn't walk in on all of them hatching a plan to release a cockroach into his room in an effort to force him to ask Atsumu for help.

"You're all worse than my actual mother. Now, can we please start this meeting? Or do we need to start planning an extra ten minutes for you all to speculate about Miya and I?"

Everyone is smart enough to keep their mouths shut on the fact that he'd stopped calling the blonde pilot 'Atsumu'.

Kiyoomi is walking back from his session with Kiyoko, feeling all types of awful and itchy, planning on taking a nice long shower. And then the Kaiju Proximity Alert goes off. Kiyoomi freezes for a second, his blood running cold.

Tendou's calculations didn't predict the next kaiju attack for another nine days.

Kiyoomi quickly turned on his heels and sprinted back in the direction of the bridge. It's a less organized chaos than normal up there, the predictions lulling them into a false sense of security.

Leviatori, is the kaiju's name. Category three, mostly auqatic in nature. It looks similar to what Sakusa would imagine a kraken looks like, with way too many tentacles and appendages.

"Eugh, who left their hentai on the monitor this time?" Kuroo jokes, much to everyone's chagrin.

"Be serious Captain Kuroo. Seijoh Rogue, Twilight Destroyer, Winged Harbinger. Suit up. We need everyone out there we can. Iron Wall's too slow to put out there." Meian says.

"Commander Meian, I'd like to recommend Captain Kozume and Captain Kuroo for emergency active duty effective immediately." Iwaizumi hung back from following the rest of the team down to the hangar.

"Captain Kozume? Kuroo? You ready to suit up?" Meian asks and Kenma sighs.

"If Sakusa agrees, We're ready." Kuroo says, slinging his arm around Kenma's shoulders.

 _Shit._ They weren't completely ready, not yet. But it was possible that they needed the extra fire power, and Maneki Neko was the fastest jaeger on base by far.

"Yes, but I'd like to request that you to do not directly engage with Leviatori." Sakusa said finally.

"Alright, Maneki Neko, suit up. Tendou, take Tsukkishima and get back down to the lab, figure out where these calculations went wrong. Astumu, run strat with Sakusa again."

Both men freeze automatically. They haven't interacted outside of training, and that most constsed of Sakusa and Atsumu beating each other up and hurling thinly veiled insults at each other.

"Is their a problem, Captains?" Meian arches an eyebrow suspiciously.

"Not all all Commander. Come along, Miya."

Kiyoomi was halfway across the bridge by the time Atsumu realized he was talking to him.

As it turned out there was indeed a problem. Atsumu and Sakusa kept delivering contradicting advice to the teams in the field. The kaiju was fast, and Sakusa thought the best course of action would be to draw the beast to a near by island and try to fight it there. Atsumu argued that it would probably take the chance to circumvent the jaegers and continue it's path to the mainland.

Sakusa thought the team should use alternating attacks to keep Leviatori distracted, while Atsumu thoguht it would be best to have the Seijoh launch the main attack, as they had the best chances of inflicting fatal damage.

"Will you _please_ keep your half-cocked plans to yourself, we're confusing them." Sakusa hisses, covering his microphone.

"Yer not listening to my suggestions at all! Maybe if you would come up with somethin' that would actually do some _damage_ to that thing! " Atsumu shoots back.

"When I want your opinion, I will _ask_ for it Captain Miya-"

"Well, you could damn well use it! They're gonnaa get tired before the kaiju does-"

There's a pause as Atsumu sees a hole in Leviatori's defenses, tentacles to occupied with subduing three out of the four teams. Maneki Neko is the only one not currently engaged.

"Sakusa, _look_ there's an openin'-"

"Don't, they shouldn't be heading this attack, if you would just let me do my goddamn job-"

"It's a sure damn shot!" Miya shouts.

"Hey, we've got a pretty clear hit here, should we take it ?" Kuroo's voice crackles over the headset.

"Yes!" Atsumu shouts at the exact same time Sakusa says "No!"

What results is a catastrophe. Kuroo and Kenma nearly fall out of sync, one moving to strike and the other stalling. Their arm raised, the kaiju wraps a tentacle around the shoulder and rips the appendage from the main chassis.

"Neko, fall back!"

"Kenma's hurt!"

Sakusa whirls on Atsumu with rage bubbling in his chest. He isn't surpised to see the emotion mirrored in Atsumu's eyes.

"What is wrong with you? I said, Neko can't engage!"

"They can and they had it! Sometimes you have to take a goddamn risk to survive in this line of work, but I wouldn't expect you to understand what it's like in the field." Atsumu seethes.

He regrets the words almost as soon as he's said them but it's too late. Sakusa's face has hardened over with that same cold look he'd had when he'd argued with his uncle.

"And I bet it was a risk like that, that almost got your brother killed." Sakusa is fuming and he doesn't mean it, he knows it's a cheap shot, but so did Atsumu.

"Sakusa! Miya! Both of you get the fuck out of here! We are in the middle of a goddamn kaiju attack and one of our jaegers is down! You can have your petty squabbles another time." Meian seethes and Atsumu has never seen the man angry and its _terrifying_.

They both squeak out a "Yes, Commander Meian." and scurry out of the control room.

It takes another three and a half hours to put the kaiju down and Meian is still angry when he comes out of the control room.

"Folow me. And don't say shit, I don't want to hear either of your voices." Meian growls.

Atsumu and Sakusa fall into step behind the commander following him up to his office. When they get inside, the follow him to his desk, they make to sit down but a sharp glare from Meian stops them.

"I don't know the details of your animosity, or the history of it all. And frankly, I don't give a _fuck_. In case you've both forgotten, we have a job to protect the world from kaiju. And I need my team to be able to at least agree on a plan of attack. That was your one strike, and it was a fucking expensive one at that. We're down a jaeger and a pilot. Kenma broke his collarbone." Meian sighs rubbing his temples.

"Now, I am only going to ask you all this one fucking time. Can you get it together and at the very least, put your shit aside to do your fucking job?" Meian asks.

"Yes, Commander." the two say in unison.

"I don't know what the fuck you need to resolve to be able to work in the same room, but deal with it, and quickly. I don't care if you need fucking couple's counselling, I really can't afford to relieve either of you from duty. Not after our losses today."

"I understand, sir." Atsumu says.

"Dismissed. I don't want to see either of you before tomorrow." Meian says.

Sakusa and Atsumu walk back down to their rooms in the thickest silence ever. Other staff scurry out of their way when they see them coming down the hallway.

"Look , just lemme, talk fer a second. I'm sorry, both for what I said today and digging around in yer past. It wasn't my place, an I shoulda let ya tell me on yer own terms. I ain't asking fer you ta forgive me right now or something but just... I want us to be able to at least... not be at each other's throat's all the time. Ya heard Meian, I don't wanna get kicked out." Atsumu says.

Sakusa sighs, peering at Atsumu over his mask.

"It's... it's alright. I shouldn't have said that stuff about your brother either, it was completely out of line. And I'm just, not ready to share that part of me with someone else yet. I'll keep my emotions in check from now on. You don't have to worry about being dismissed." Sakusa concedes.

He isn't mad anymore, hadn't been angry since the words left his mouth back on the bridge. He was just tired. Atsumu gave him a rather forced smile.

"Well then, let's try our best to stay friendly.' Atsumu says, holding his hand out to Sakusa. It's an olive branch that he accepts.

Sakusa is true to his word, and reccomeneds Atsumu for drift diagnostics the next day.

"Good news, Kuroo!" Bokuto announces, practically skipping his way into the mess hall.

Akaashi and Kenma are following at a distance, whispering amongst each other.

"What's up, Bo? Did Kenma's check up go okay?" Kuroo asked, eyes flickering between the three.

Akaashi's face was schooled into a poker face, which meant he was hiding something. Bokuto looked like a puppy that had just been offered a walk. Kenma looked less bored than usual. Something was going on.

"It's fine, they just ran some x-rays to make sure it's set right." Kenma explains.

Too much detail for something trivial. Something was seriously up. Kuroo squinted at his friends.

"What did you do?" he asks.

Tendou leans over Wakatoshi to see what they're talking about. "Who did what?"

"They" Kuroo points at the trio accusatorily, "have done something." he elaborates.

"Nothing bad! Well, not _that_ bad at least." Bokuto is _stalling_. They don't want to tell him. What is it though?

"What's going on?" Oikawa asks, and now virtually the whole table of pilots is trained on their conversation.

"I tried to stop them." Kenma says.

"You did not." Akaashi reminds him "You gave us his number."

"Who's number?!" Kuroo nearly yells.

"Well, you know how excited you were to get back to piloting? And it really was bad luck that Kenma and Neko got injured. It would take AGES to find a new partner and even longer to fix Neko up-" Bokuto starts, but Kuroo cuts him off grabbing his friend by the lapels of the jacket.

"What did you do?" Kuroo hisses and Bokuto actually looks a little worried.

"Kaashi, help me!" he squeaks, despite the fact that he could probably flip Kuroo on his head if he wanted to.

"Aw, put 'im down, Kuroo, how bad could it be?" Atsumu asks.

Very bad is the answer.

"We remembered you already have another drift partner, and he just so happens to have a jaeger, and be missing a copilot. Just got back from serving in China last month." Akaashi said, looking way too smug.

"No, no you didn't you guys _wouldn't_. Kenma...." Kuroo tries, looking scared.

"We already did. Meian says he'll be here on Thursday." Kenma says.

"Who?" Hinata asks, spraying rice across the table.

"Kuroo's old rival from the academy. Daishou Suguru." Akaashi supplies, considering Kuroo was too busy having a meltdown to answer.

"They _were_ going to be pilots together, but Suguru got a higher compatibility match with a girl our senior year. They were married until earlier this year." Bokuto explained.

"He came back from China because he was down a pilot and couldn't find a macth over there. He missed Meian's nationwide call for pilots." Kenma says.

"I can't believe you would do this to me, I thought we were _friends_." Kuroo wails.

"We are your friends, that's why we told Meian." Akaashi says.

"Traitors the lot of you." Kuroo seethes.

At that second Kuroo's phone rings. There's a very unflattering photo of a man with green hair on the display along with the name "Literal Snake: Do Not Answer: .

"Dear God, he can't even leave me alone until he gets here?"

The table erupts into laughter at Kuroo's expense.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this one was a bit of a filler so i added a little bonus at the end lol  
> i think kurro x daishou will be a fun addition


End file.
